Hinata Chronicles
by JGResidentEvil
Summary: A tale where an unexpected girl gains a powerful weapon and is whisked away into a grand adventure. I don't own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts. Confident Hinata in Later Chapters. NaruHina
1. Chapter 1

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 1: Chosen

The room is dark, Hinata Hyūga the member of the Hyūga Clan's main household (12 years old) is floating aimlessly in what looks like an endless darkness. She wakes up and gently lands on to a surface under her.

"What's going on?" Hinata though nervously.

She looks around wondering where she is and how she got there, she then see's what looks like a young girl in a black leather hooded coat.

"Who is that?" Hinata thought as she then tried to talk but couldn't. "Why can't I talk!" She thought.

The young girl in the black leather hooded coat only said "You have been chosen, regain you courage after choosing one of the three weapons you will soon see and then face your fears.", then disappears.

"What do you mean?" Hinata then tried to run after her, but under her a bright light opens from thee darkness and shows the surface she is on. A lavender stain-glass surface with her on it with eyes closed in the position of praying also showing the symbol of her clan around the edges of the surface.

"This is getting weird. . .", soon the ground starts to shake and then three pillars gently fall from the sky then a glowing light appears on each pillar showing three weapons: a sword, a wand and a shield.

"These must be the three weapons she was talking about. . ." She starts to walk when she hears a voice.

"Power sleeps within you", "If you give it form. . . It will give you strength. . . now choose well"

Hinata swallowed as first goes and jumps onto the pillar with the to the wand.

"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin." The voice said

Hinata has a look that shows she doesn't know, then she goes and jumps onto the pillar with the sword.

"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction."

Hinata has a look that shows that this isn't her, she finally goes and jumps onto the pillar with the to the shield.

"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all." Hinata smiled as it look like this is the perfect choice so she ends up choosing the shield.

"Your path is now set, now what will you give up in exchange?". Hinata decides to give up the sword cause she doesn't like fighting.

The voice then says "You chosen the power of a guardian. You given up the power of a warrior. Is this the form you choose?"

Hinata nodded her head. Suddenly the pillar that she was on began to sink and disappear as the floor around her began to break away, causing her to fall. Hinata continued falling until she saw another stain-glass similar to the last one except it was dark blue as she gently landed on it. "At least it was a safe landing. . ." Soon the shield that she chose appeared in her hands. "This is. . . different." as she then swung it.

"You've gained the power to fight."

Hinata then gripped the shield as she then did a 'Gentle Fist' move with her free hand. She then pushed forward with the shield in her hand doing a shield attack.

"All right! You've got it. Use this power to protect yourself and others."

Hinata then smiled. "I will." She then looked around to see strange black yellow-eyed creatures that was coming out of the floor. "What the?"

"There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong."

Hinata swallows as she then ran into one of them as she hit with her palm, releasing chakra from it, one of the creatures was then destroyed in a puff of black smoke. "I-I killed it. . ." She then saw that the other one were fading away back into the floor and disappearing. She then did a sigh of relief. "That was close. . ."

"Behind you!"

"What!" She turned around and quickly slashed another creature with the shield. "Too close!" Then more of them started to come again as Hinata did some more 'Gentle Fist' moves and also attacked with the shield. Hinata started to breath heavily as the last creature sank into what looked like a pool of darkness as more of it appeared around her. "There's nowhere to run!" Hinata then started to sink into the darkness as she closed her eyes as it engulfed her.

A few minutes had passed, Hinata's eyes were still closed as she was flailing to get out. She then opened her eyes to find herself on another stain-glass like the last two except it was pink. "I hope that never happens again! That was too scary!" She then started to breath heavily from the shock. As she stood up, she saw a nicely craft door, but she was able to see through it. She then went over to try and open it "It won't open. . ." Hinata then look around when a chest appeared. As she went over to it, she opened it to find a little orb of light that came out of it and went to the door and it wasn't see through anymore. "Now it looks it's able to be open." She then went to the door and opened it, causing a blinding bright light to come out.

When the light cleared, she finds herself in the middle of Konoha, but no one was around except her teacher Kurenai, and her two teammates, Kiba and Shino hanging around. "Am I still dreaming?"

"Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself."

Hinata then went over to Shino. "Shino? No. . . not Shino but. . . I guess this is part of the dream. . ."

"What's most important to you?" Shino asked in his monotone voice.

Hinata thought long and hard. "Friendship."

Shino then nodded his head. "Is friendship really that important?"

Hinata then went over to Kiba. "What are you so afraid of?"

Hinata lowered her head in shame. "Being different. . ."

Kiba then nodded his head. "Being different? Is that really so scary?"

Finally, Hinata walked over to Kurenai. "What do you want out of life?"

Hinata then thought long and hard again. "To broaden my horizons."

Kurenai then nodded her head. "To broaden your horizons huh?"

"You want friendship. Your afraid of being different. You want to broaden your horizons. Your adventure starts at midday. Keep a steady pace and you'll come through fine."

Hinata smiled. "That's sounds like me."

"The day you open the door is both far off and very near." Another blinding light appeared as Hinata then appeared again walking on another stain-glass, this time being red. A light then appeared in the other end of the circle floor.

Hinata then walked over to the light, gripping the shield just incase. "Can't be to careful. . . " As soon as she bathed herself in the light, a large group of the strange black creatures appeared out of the ground and surrounded her. Hinata, even though she was scared activated her Byakugan as she swallowed she gripping the shield and got her free hand ready. "What all of this suppose to mean?" She defend herself against the creatures as she destroyed them all, she was started to get tried and started to breath heavily again. "I don't know how much longer I can take this. . ."

Another light soon appeared over her as strangely recovered her strength, the light then moved to the edge of the stain-glass as a road of miniature stain-glass appeared leading to what looked like another area.

"Well. . . I guess since there's nowhere else to go. . ." Hinata then went on the path and followed it to another stain-glass, this time being yellow. When she got on to it, she went closer to the light.

"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes."

Hinata then turned around to see her long thin shadow. The shadow then started to come out of the floor, rising itself up. "W-what the!" Hinata then started to back up in fear as her shadow mutated.

"But don't be afraid."

The shadow grew larger then anything Hinata had seen as she continued to back up.

"And don't forget. . ."

Hinata then turned around to try and run away, but was stopped by the edge of the stain-glass as she almost fell off. She then turned back to it, gripping the shield and raising her palm. "Well. . . That voice said not to be afraid. . ." Hinata then remembered something that her sensei once told her.

"Now team, if any of you are up against an opponent with a greater size then you, the face is always a great weakness, for no one man can train their facial muscles." Kurenai said in Hinata's mind.

Hinata then stared at the giant of her former shadow as she then rushed up its arm. "Thank you tree-climbing exercises!" Hinata then did a powerful blow to the giant's face as she jumped back to the ground.

The giant then slammed it's fist into the ground with the force of an Akimichi, creating a pool of darkness, coming out of it were the small black creatures she fought before.

"I think I can hit the hand as well." Hinata then started to bash at its hand and the surrounding creatures.

The giant soon brought its hand back up as it then started to create some kind of energy from the heart-shaped hole in its chest area. The energy was then release as it headed for Hinata.

"Gotta block it!" She then used the shield to block the energy as it then got sent back at him, when the energy hit the large creature it then started to falter as the shield then disappeared from Hinata's grip. "What?" Hinata by chance dodged an incoming strike from the giant as she then fell to the ground on her butt. A pool of darkness suddenly appeared under her as the giant got closer to her.

"-But don't be afraid."

The darkness then started to consume Hinata as the giant got closer and closer. "Is this the end of me?"

"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

Hinata tried to crawl out of the darkness as her whole body was continuing to cover her.

"So don't forget:"

Hinata turned around and tried to scream as more darkness continue to cover her being.

"You are the one who will open the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 2: Awakening

Hinata starts to gasps for breath as she woke up. "What was that all! Something about that dream. . . It felt way to real." She then slowly started gathering up the gear she would need for the Chunin exam. Slipping into the same old thing she wore every day. As she was rushing out of the house she passed her father and paused.

"Um… I'll be leaving now for the exams"

Her father just shrugged and looked away from her. Hinata gets a depressed look in her eyes and leaves. She then starts to run to the meeting point to where her team will be. When she get to the meeting point she see's her teammate: Kiba with his dog Akamaru and Shino.

"So Hinata, you ready for the exams" Kiba excitedly asked as Akamaru barked.

"We must do our best" Shino said in his usual monotone voice.

"Um sure. . . I'm ready." Hinata mumbled as the three left for the exams.

The three soon got to the door for the exams.

"Alright! Bring it on!" Kiba cheered as he opened the door.

When they got in, they saw multiple groups of serious ninjas, all looking anxious to attack at any moment.

"Whoa. . . the competition here. . . Their chakra's incredible. . ." Hinata thought.

"Yahoo! Found you!" Kiba suddenly said as he went over to some familiar people.

Hinata then started to blush at one of them. "N-naruto. . . The boy I admire. . ."

"Well well, everyone is assembled." Kiba confidently said.

"H-hello. . ." Hinata shyly said.

"Jeez. . . You guys too?" Shikamaru asked.

"I see. . . All 9 of this year's rookie genin are taking the exam. I wonder how far we will get. . . Eh Sasuke?" Kiba said

Sasuke then smirked as he smugly said. " You seem confident, Kiba."

Hinata became lost in her thoughts as Naruto and Kiba started arguing. "Why can't I get rid of those memories of that dream I had?" Hinata remembered fighting that giant black creature as she began to lose some her color.

Naruto noticed her looking pale as he went up to her. "Hey Hinata, are alright? Your looking a little pale."

Hinata jumped a little that the person she admired was worried for her. "N-no, I'm alright. . . j-just didn't have good night, t-that's all." Hinata then started to get a bit red from blushing.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet." A voice said as everyone turned to the source, teenager with white hair and glasses. "You guys are rookies just right out of the academy right? Screaming like school girls. . . geez. . . This isn't a picnic."

"Who do you think you are?" Ino asked.

As man named Kabuto introduced himself and revealed some of his secrets, Hinata thought she saw some dark smoke coming out of him. "Must be my eyes playing tricks on me. . ."

Suddenly Naruto screamed out at how he was going to beat everyone here, drawing attention to them. Then out of nowhere, the three Sound Genin came out and tried to hit Kabuto he dodged it but then started to throw up.

Hinata looked at the three genin that just attack where again she thought she saw some black smoke come out of them. "Again. . ." Hinata then started to rub her eyes as she saw it disappeared. "What was that all about?" She thought.

"Quiet down you worthless bastards!" A voice yelled as a large amount of smoke appeared in the front of the room. As the smoke cleared, a large man wearing a bandanna with scars on his face and a group of Leaf ninjas. " Thanks for waiting. . . I am Ibiki Morino, the examiner for the chunin selection exam first test." As he explained that the first the first test was and the test started.

"A written test. . . I was pretty smart back in the academy besides Sakura, but for Naruto. . . I hope he can somehow pass. . ." Hinata thought as she sat next to Naruto and used her knowledge to do the test. As the test went on, Hinata then noticed that Naruto was struggling at doing the test. "Maybe. . . I can help him. . ." Hinata thought as she smiled and blushed. "Naruto. . . you can look at my test." She whispered as she look over a him.

Naruto was surprised and confused at her. "Hey Hinata, why are you willing to do that?"

Hinata then started to blush as she got nervous and started to play with her fingers. "Because. . . I. . . don't want you to disappear here."

She then started to shake a little. "See. . . The nine of us are only rookies. . . We need to work together. . ."

Naruto then started to chuckle a little. "Oh. . . I see. . . I was kind of confused."

Hinata then got a little depressed. "That isn't it at all. . ." She thought. She thought as she secretly tried to slide her paper so Naruto could copy it. "It's because. . . I admire you. . ."

Naruto was about to copy when he saw some of the prompters looking around. "Hinata. . . you don't understand."

"Huh?" Hinata was indeed confused.

Naruto then smiled. "An incredible ninja like me doesn't need to cheat."

"Naruto. . . but. . ."

"Plus, because if you help me cheat. . . you could get in trouble too.

"Huh?" Hinata was again surprised. "I'm sorry. . . you're right. . ."

"No problem."

As she finished up the test, Hinata smiled a little. "At least care for me a little. . ." she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 3: Family Feud

(Time jump to the fight between Hinata and Neji Hyuga)

"You do not make a good shinobi. . . forfeit now" Neji demanded

Hinata gasped as Neji said that.

"Your are too kind. . . you wish for harmony and avoid conflict. . . you agree with others, never resisting you have no confidence in your-self I always feel your sense of inferiority that's why I thought it would be best for you to remain a genin but the Chunin exams can only be taken as a team of three. You couldn't turn down your teammate's request and unwillingly entered, this is reality. Am I wrong?"

"N. . .No I just wanted to change myself, do it myself" Hinata explained.

"Hinata as I thought, you are a spoiled brat of the main house people cannot change themselves! Losers are losers their personality and strength will not change. Because people cannot change, differences are born expressions like elites and losers are created. Looks, brains, ability, size, and personality, all people judge and are judged are in these values. Based on these unchangeable factors, people discriminate and are discriminated and they suffer within their own means. Just like the fact that I am from the branch house and you are from the main house that cannot be changed. I have seen through many things with this Byakugan, so I know you are acting strong but deep inside you just want to run away from here."

Neji activates his Byakugan, Hinata floats her eye to her upper left, then goes to her lower right. Hinata starts to tremble in fear.

"I imagine that you'll lose!"

She starts to raise her finger to lip as she raises her right arm and starts to breath heavy.

"So basically in reality haven't you already realized? That you cannot change your-"

"YOU CAN!" In the stand was Naruto who was pissed off of Neji saying those things about Hinata. "STOP DECIDING THINGS ABOUT PEOPLE! IDIOT! KICK THAT BASTARD'S ASS! HINATA!"

"N. . . Naruto."

Suddenly, Hinata has flashbacks about Naruto and how he won't quit and also back that dream where she fought those creatures and that giant which helps her regain her confidence.

"Thank you Naruto."


	4. Chapter 4

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 4: The chat and the coming of the blade

After intense fight with her cousin Neji, Hinata starts to gasp for breath heavily, she then starts to cough up blood and falls to her knees. She looked at her arm showing all the points that Neji hit.

"Hinata. . . This is the difference in talent that can never change the difference that divides an elite form a loser. This is the reality that cannot be changed. At the point you said "I do not want to run" you were setting yourself up for regret. You should be overcome with desperation right now. Forfeit."

"I. . . don't. . . go back. . . on my word. . . this is also my ninja way." Hinata explained. "Gah!" her heart was hit by a previous attack and she starts to cough up blood. She able to get her head up to look at Neji and see's something usually, she doesn't have her Byakugan activated at the time but she's what looks like a black aura covering Neji. She then looks at the stand and the people and it looked like that everything froze around her. "What is this? A time-space jutsu? Why can only I see this. . . this-"

"Darkness?" someone said in the distance.

Hinata heard footsteps from a distance near the entrance and she couldn't believe what she saw. "Y-you!" Hinata exclaimed.

Walking up to her was the same young girl in a black leather hooded coat.

"B-but how? That was only a dream I had."

"Don't worry, I don't want to fight just to talk" said young girl in a black leather hooded coat. She then took off her hood revealing a black short-haired girl. "My name is. . . Xion"

"Umm h-hi, m-my name is-"

"Its alright, I know who you are. . . I have to say I'm proud"

"W-why?"

"Because. . . you show an incredible amount of courage, oh wait before we continue let me heal you a-bit. Heal!" A light-green glow cover Hinata.

"H-how! My wounds feel all better, I still cannot send chakra to my hands but I feel a lot better."

Xion gave a quick smile. "As I was saying, you have an incredible amount of courage and show the will to never give in. That why I chose you"

"C-chose me, for what?

"You may not remember this, but we met before when you were very young."

"But how?"

"Truth is I'm only a sprit, I faded away after the time we met." Xion then put her finger to Hinata's head then a bright light appeared, when the light cleared they appeared in Konohagakure.

"What! Why are we here?"

"Don't worry, this only the memory I sealed away." Running pass them was a young Hinata crying. "This was on the same day your sister beat you and took over as the heiress of your main household. Lets follow her."

The younger Hinata kept running through the woods when she came by a spring, their she saw a young girl in a black leather hooded coat.

"Are you alright young one?" the young girl in a black leather hooded coat asked. "This girl. . . could she be?" young girl in a black leather hooded coat though.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause you any worry. I must be going." said young Hinata.

"Wait! Come here, I want to give you something."

"W-what?"

"A gift. To one with a strong heart." She then put her hand out and breath deeply, that's when a bright light came out, as soon as the light disappeared, a silver key-shaped blade with a yellow guard with a handle, a hilt and a head at the end of the shaft that resembles the teeth of a skeleton key.

"Ahem. . . In your hand, take this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

The younger Hinata then looked at the blade for second, after she touched it. She looked at the cloaked girl for a second, she started to hear her body guards voice calling out to her. "I guess I have to got to go."

The young girl in the black leather hooded coat then quickly put her head on the young Hinata's head, "Wait! What's your name?"

"Hinata Hyuga" she said.

"Hinata. . . a nice name for a nice girl. We will meet again, you may not remember me but I promise we will meet again."

The younger Hinata soon had the memory of their meeting locked away. Then she left the spring. A bright light started to shine again and both the older Hinata and Xion were back at the Chunin Exam preliminaries arena.

"So all that happened and I didn't remember it?" the older Hinata asked.

"Yes, the dream you had recently showed your power starting to awaken and its now time for your power to come out."

"In the form of that blade I touched right?"

"Yes, its called a Keyblade and I think this the right for it to come." Xion looked at Neji with the dark aura around him. "His rage and hatred towards the main house of your family is causing him to be corrupted by darkness. Are you ready to be a Keyblade wielder?"

"I am" Hinata said proudly.

"Good". Xion then walked through Hinata showing what she has to do in order to summon her keyblade.

"I understand and thank you."

"Well, I guess its time for my sprit to rest now. Good luck, Keyblade wielder Hinata" Xion said with pride. "I'm going to resume time in 3...2...1"

Time restarted and the battle Neji restarted.

"Like I said before, give-"

"I will never give up and I won't run away again!" Hinata yelled proudly, shocking everyone. She then put her hand, took a deep breath and concentrate. "In my hand I took a Key. So long as I have the makings, then through that simple act of taking, its wielder I shall now be." she said with pride, at that moment a bright light came forth.

"What is this?" Neji wondered.

When the light cleared, Hinata's outfit changed. She was now wearing a grey short-sleeved shirt with a lavender sleeve-less zipper jacket on, a black choker with a ruby gem, around her waist was a belt with the symbol of her village with 2 cases on it: a black one on the side and a white one in the back, violet shorts, and black shoes. In her hand was a pure white keyblade (similar to the Kingdom Key Keyblade) with the section connecting the blade and handle with a grey and blue rainguard, there is a key chain also showing dangling with the symbol of a white orb.

"Thank you Xion" Hinata though. "Now Neji! The real battle begins!"


	5. Chapter 5

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 5: Hinata's victory and Neji's downfall

"Woo-Hoo, Way to go Hinata!" Naruto said cheering in the stands.

Hinata then charged into Neji swinging her Keyblade. "Defend yourself!"

Neji quickly dodged Hinata's attack with a back-flip, during the flip he notice a cut on his arm. "She scratched me, she actually scratched me!" Neji though. Neji landed on the ground and rush into Hinata hitting her heart again. "There that should keep her down! This match is over!" Neji yelled with a crazed look on his face. Neji started to walk away when he heard Hinata panting, "No!, IT CAN'T BE!".

Hinata was standing breathing heavily. "Like I said before, I will never give up." Hinata then lunged her Keyblade into the air. "Heal!". A light-green glow covered her body and all her wounds she had disappeared. "I knew it! I can use power's like Xion, I wonder what else I can done now?" she though. Her eyes then widen showing another power she can do that Xion had.

"THUNDER!" Xion yelled.

"I see, it seems I'm going to learn new powers thanks to Xion's inheritance." she though.

"Now's my chance!" Neji though. He then charged into Hinata with blinding speed. "Your mine now!"

Hinata snapped her mind back into the fight. "Got to wait for him to get closer" she though. Neji rushing in faster then ever. "NOW!", quickly got behind Neji and once again put her Keyblade up to the sky. "THUNDER!" she screamed.

"WHAT!

The area quickly darkened for a second, then a bolt of lighting then came crashing down out of nowhere zapping Neji.

"Whoa!" Naruto said.

The pink haired named Sakura Haruno was stunned at what she just did. "How in the world did she do that!" "Kakashi Sensei?" she then turned to looked at her sensei, a man in a simple jonin outfit of the village who also had a mask covering his face with white hair and his headband covering his right eye.

"I don't know." Kakashi said with an amazed look on his face.

Neji was on the ground struggling to get up. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE, I WAS SUPPOSE TO WIN THIS BATTLE!" He glared straight at Hinata and started to rush into her once more.

Hinata quickly dodged his attack by getting behind him, only this time she was crouched down. "Take this!" Hinata then kicked Neji into the air, she then rushed in to the air above him. "AXE SLAM!" Hinata then send all the force to her keyblade and hit Neji in the stomach and pushed with all her might, bring Neji and herself into the ground causing a large mass of smoke to appear.

Hinata then back-flipped out of the smoke, revealing she was alright. As the smoke cleared the area showed Neji in a crater, coughing heavily "I CAN'T Mov-" he then fell into unconscious. The proctor Hayate Gekko walked up to Neji coughing.

"Well it seems like he is unable to continue so the winner is Hinata Hyuga!" Hayate announced.

The crowd was silent for second when. . .

"Woo-hoo! Hinata you did it you won!" Naruto cheered. He and the other rookie genin of Konoha 11: Shino Aburame, Choji Akimichi, Sakura Haruno, Rock Lee, Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka all came down from the stands to congratulate Hinata on her victory.

"I was really impressed." Shino commented.

"Man, that was incredible!" exclaimed Choji.

"But how could you have beaten my rival before me!" Lee complained tearing at the eyes.

"Man this is all such a drag, even you are getting stronger" Shikamaru said with a depressed look on his face.

"You really surprised us all there." Ino complimented.

"Thank you everyone." she then walked up to Naruto and gave him a hug. "But I couldn't have done it without you, Naruto."

Everyone then gazed at Naruto with a sarcastic smile. "W-what are you all looking at?" Naruto said blushing a bit.

"Oh, sorry Naruto." She then let go of him blushing.

"Alright, alright that's enough people we have to get ready for the next match but first, some one get the medics for Neji." Hayate said still coughing.

The medics came and put Neji on the stretcher to carry him off to the hospital. "Hmm the darkness around Neji is gone for now. I hope nothing bad happens to him." she though with a serious look on her face.

. . .At Konoha Hospital (a week after the preliminaries)

"Geez my head." said a long haired boy with sharp teeth and red fang marks on his face.

"Ah Kiba your awake. Don't worry about Akamaru he is just fine." said a medical-nin.

"Dang Naruto got me good in our match. Wait! Hinata! What happened to her match?"

Just then, Shino and Hinata walked into Kiba's room Kiba turned his head to see them. "Hello Kiba." Hinata said with a smile. "It seems you awaken" Shino mention.

Kiba then stared at Hinata's outfit for a second. "What happened to you?"

"Well I. . ."

"Let me explain what happened." Shino said

After a couple of minutes of explaining what happened in her match, Kiba got an awestruck look on his face. "Wow, so you actually beat Neji. Incredible!"

"Hinata, show him your blade you now have." Shino said.

"Um, ok." She then put her hand, took a deep breath and concentrate and after a small flash of light from her hand, her keyblade appeared.

Kiba whistled. "Impressive, so this help you beat Neji huh?"

"Yes."

Meanwhile in Neji's room, Neji is sitting on his bed, angry that he lost his match to Hinata.

"It must be terrible losing to one of the people you hate." a sinister voice said.

"What!, who's there? Show yourself!" Neji demanded

"Behind you."

Neji quickly glanced behind him seeing what looks like a man in a brown robe.

"Who are you?"

"No one special, just some want to help."

"What do you mean?"

"In your heart there is darkness, if you release the darkness you can gain incredible power. I can unlock it for you."

"Why should I trust you!"

"If you want to beat the one who beat you, then you should trust me and I will also free you from your Bird Cage Seal."

Neji looked away for minute to think. "What should I do?, Should I trust him?" he though. The man in the brown robe waited for his reply for an hour. "Well?, what is your choice?".

Neji then looked up at him with an evil smile on his mouth. "Sure why not?"

"Good, then follow me". The brown robed man then opened a dark portal that looked endless, he then walked in with Neji following him and the portal closed behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 6: Preparations

(Time jump to the day before the Chunin Exam Final Rounds)

Hinata and Shino are walking through the village, it's the middle of the night and the village itself is like a festival.

"A month of training, all for this." Hinata said.

"Indeed. You think your ready?" Shino said.

"Yes."

"Good." Hinata's smiling face turned into a frown.

"A lot has happened. I actually beat Neji, I'm going to the Chunin Exam Final rounds, but now Neji's disappeared." Hinata thought.

"Well I got to go for some last minute training, see you at the exams." Shino said.

"Bye." Shino then disappears in a puff of smoke.

"What should I do now?" She then spots Naruto looking depressed.

"Naruto!" blushing she goes over to him.

"Huh, Hey Hinata!" Naruto seeing her. The two start to walk together through the village while Hinata was making sure not to faint.

"So um. . . how's your training going?"

"Rough, but I learned some great new justsu. How about you? Ready for the finals tomorrow?"

"I think so, are you ready?"

"I don't know, the rest of the competition looks really strong. But I'm not going to give up no matter what!"

"Well, if you won't give up then nether will I!" Hinata said with a smile on her face.

"By the way Hinata. . ."

"What?"

"Is it true what Sakura said, that you are always watching me?"

Hinata starts to blush. "Um. . . I. . . well. . . you see I-"

"Its alright."

"Huh?"

"You're a nice person, you care for other before yourself, and you never give up no matter what."

"T-thank you Naruto."

"Well I got to get going, I got to get a good nights sleep for the finals tomorrow."

"I should be heading in too. See you at the finals."

"Yeah, I'll definitely see you there believe it."

Naruto and Hinata rush home to rest for tomorrow competition.

Meanwhile in the shadows of the night, two figures emerge from the darkness. One of them is a tall man with very tan skin with amber-orange eyes and white long hair, who is wearing silver-white gloves on his hand, there is a black pauldron on both of his shoulders that are both attached to his coat by two straps, also wearing black pants and black, silver-lined, knee-high boots. The other is what appears to be a boy in a dark greenish-yellow organic-looking body suit also wearing a silver helmet with a dark glass cover hiding his face.

"So Nexus, are you ready to prove your strength?"

"Yes, Master Ansem. Soon I will consume all the powers of this world." He then puts his hand out and out of the dark energy comes a dark green and yellow Keyblade.

"Soon they will all be destroyed." Nexus then starts to laugh manically.


	7. Chapter 7

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 7: Interruption at the Chunin Exam Finals 

"Thank you for coming to the Hidden Leaf Chunin Selection Exams!" the Third Hokage said proudly. "We will now start the main tournament matches between the 8 participants who made it through the preliminaries. Please stay and watch until the end."

"There's something I like to tell you before you start your matches" said the propter known as Genma Shiranui. He then pulls out a piece of paper with a tournament bracket on it. "There have been some minor changes to the tournament, check once again to see who your fighting."

Hinata and Naruto then gasped at what they see.

"W-what. . . I have to fight Naruto!" Hinata though.

"Oh come on you got to be kidding me, I don't want to fight Hinata!" Naruto though.

"And what's worse, in the first round!" they both though in unison.

"Alright guys, this is the final test. The arena is different but the rules are the same as the prelims, there are none. You acknowledges defeat, but if I determine that the fight is over. . . I'll step in and stop it, you got that?"

Everyone just stood there.

"Right then, the first match is between Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga. You two stay here, while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

All the other competitors left the arena leaving Hinata and Naruto in the center of the stadium.

"Hehe! Well I guess this is it Hinata, get ready!" Naruto said smiling then gets into his battle stance.

"Yes I'm ready to go." Hinata also said smiling then gets into her battle stance summoning out her keyblade extending her keyblade out and holding it one handed.

"Now the first fight! Begin!"

Hinata eyes widen when she then senses a presence and then starts to look around.

"Hmm. . . hey Hinata what's wrong?"

Hinata then looks at the sun and see's a dark figure coming downward over Naruto. As it gets closer she see's the person behind Naruto.

"Naruto watch out!"

"What!"

"Too late." Nexus said calmly. He then backhands Naruto knocking him unconscious. "Hmp fool!"

The crowd just stood there and couldn't understand what happened wide eyed.

"N-Naruto!" Sakura screamed, tearing in the stand.

"What the hell just happened! Who the heck is that!" Ino said

"Hey who the heck are you and what are you doing here?" Genma demand.

Nexus looked over to Genma direction. "Shut up. This doesn't involve you. This involve me and the keyblade wielder." He then stare in the direction of Hinata who had an angry look on her face.

"Propter, take Naruto and get him fixed up. I will handle this."

"But-"

"Just do it!"

Genma then got Naruto's unconscious body and took him out of the stadium leaving Hinata and Nexus in the arena.

"Who are you?"

"Why I'm your worse nightmare! Call me Nexus. Let's start the real battle."

"What?"

Nexus then slammed his hands on the ground and instantly a dark barrier covered the stadium so no one can interfere.

"What's going on!" The Third Hokage said.

"Why its that simple." said a voice from nowhere.

"What who's there, show yourself!" A dark portal then opened in the middle of the air in front of the air.

A figure the appeared out of the portal. "Oh, and by the way Orochimaru my apprentice down there has already killed your forces for the invasion of the Leaf Village." The figure then looked at Kazekage. The figure then grabbed the Kazekage and ripped off his disguise revealing to be Orochimaru, he then threw him into the dark portal.

"Damn you, whoever you are!" Orochimaru screamed as he fell into the portal.

The Third Hokage just stood there awestruck. "W-why!"

The figure then turned to the Hokage and impaled him right through the chest with his hand then pulled it out reveling the blood on the figure's hand. "Old crack pot."

Back at the arena.

"Hmm, It seems that Master Ansem has killed your beloved Hokage."

"W-what! It can't be!"

"Enough talk! We fight now!" Nexus screamed charging at Hinata with his fist.


	8. Chapter 8

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 8: Battle between Light And Darkness

Hinata and Nexus both charged at each other at full force, clashing blow for blow with no chance of letting up.

The Daimyo's in the stand are impressed with the fight between Hinata and Nexus, wondering who Nexus is under the mask.

"Hmp, this is getting boring lets make it more interesting." Nexus demand.

"What!" Hinata exclaimed.

Nexus then put out his hand and from darkness energy came a dark green and yellow keyblade.

"N-no! How do you have a Keyblade?"

"You thought there were just Keyblade wielders of Light. Wrong! I'm a Keyblade wielder of Darkness!" Nexus then started to laugh hysterically. "Now show me the power of the useless Light!" Nexus then charged into Hinata.

Once again they started exchanging blow for blow. In the stands Sakura and Ino were rushing on there way to the infirmary where Naruto was.

"So. . . why are we going to Naruto again?" Ino harshly asked.

"Did you see what that guy did to him! Besides aren't I aloud to be worried about him? He is my teammate!" Sakura explained.

"Whatever you say billboard brow." Ino said sarcastically.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY INO-PIG!" Sakura said in a fit of rage.

"GRRR YOUR REALLY ANNOYING!" Ino screamed.

When they got to the infirmary they both see Naruto resting in bed peacefully.

Inside Naruto's conscious, Naruto was staring right into the face of the demon inside of him: The Nine-Tailed Fox.

"How pitiful." Said the Fox Demon.

"What is?" asked Naruto

"That you easily got knocked out."

"Shut up! It was a surprise attack! It came out of nowhere until Hinata sensed it!"

"Then why don't you wake up and take him down!"

"Geez, your annoying as all hell"

Naruto then woke up in front of Sakura and Ino both having a glad look on their faces.

Back at the arena, the battling between Hinata and Nexus was still going on.

"Gah!" Hinata cried out. Nexus delivered a nasty blow that sent Hinata into the wall of the arena. Nexus then rushed in to her and grabbed her neck starting to choke her.

"You see how powerless your Light is, the difference in power between in us is beyond measurements. You and that hopeless fool Naruto are nothing compare to me, once a loser always a loser!" Nexus explained.

"Shut up" Hinata whispered.

"What?"

"I said SHUT UP! You no nothing about me or Naruto so don't even talk about us that way!"

"You tell him Hinata!" a voice in the distance cried out.

"What? Who's there?" Nexus demanded. Nexus started to look into the stand to find the source of the voice.

"Up here you jack-ass!"

Nexus then looked above him and in the stands was the "Number One Hyperactive Knuckle-Head Ninja" Naruto Uzumaki.

"You know that really hurt ya jerk. Hey Hinata, are you going to let this jerk beat you?"

Hinata then toke a deep breath and smiled. "No, I'm not going to lose. I can't lose this battle against the darkness!"

"SHUT UP AND MIND YOUR OWN BUISNESS YOU MORON! THIS IS BETWEEN MY AND HINATA AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU RUIN MY TRIUMPETING MOMENT!" Nexus screamed, a dark aura then started to form around Nexus. He then pointed his Keyblade at Naruto. "DARK FIRAGA!" he screamed. A ball of a dark flame started to head towards Naruto.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried. She stared to struggle to get out of Nexus's grip, She decided to use her Byakugan on Nexus and she attacked using her palm and hit his chest.

"GAH!" Screamed Nexus.

Hinata then kicked Nexus in the gut and broke free of his grip, she then got to Naruto before the Dark Firaga got to him and protected him. "Whew. . . made it in time."

"INSOLENT FOOL, YOU THINK YOUR LIGHT IS STRONGER THEN MY DARKNESS WELL YOUR WRONG! I'LL SHOW YOU THE TRUE POWERS OF DARKNESS!" Nexus manically said. He then starts to charge his dark powers and his keyblade's aura starts to grow. "THIS IS THE TRUE POWER OF DARKNESS, RIGHT MASTER ANSEM?"

A corridor of darkness then opens and Ansem come out.

"So you're the one who killed the Hokage!" Hinata explained.

"Yes I am, the crack pot old fool. Filled with light. You fools know nothing! In one's heart there is darkness. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such as its nature. In the end every heart returns to the darkness whence it came. You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."

"What a bunch of crap!" Screamed Naruto.

"He's right." Hinata said. "You think darkness is a part of the heart. Well guess what! Its not! It only appears in the hearts as evil as yours. Light is the true essence of the heart!"

"How dare you!" screamed Nexus.

"You know she's right Ansem." said a voice in the distance.

"WHAT!"

Suddenly in front of Hinata, a corridor of Light appeared in front of and out came a young girl in a black leather hooded coat. She then took off her hood revealing a black short-haired girl.

"No way! Xion!" Hinata said.

"Yup" Xion replied.

"B-b-but how?"

"I'll explain later." Xion then walks up to Ansem. "Idiot, like I said its not true. The heart maybe weak and sometimes it may give in. But even I know that there's a light that never goes out no matter what happens!" she explained to Ansem.

"She right Ansem!" said Hinata. Hinata then started to concentrate and a light glow appeared around her. "The darkness will never consume us!" She then charged in to Ansem.

"Master!" Screamed Nexus. He then went to Ansem and blocked Hinata's attack with his body. The mask then starts to crack.


	9. Chapter 9

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 9: The White Snakes Attack

Nexus's mask started crack but it only revealed his mouth.

"GAH!" Nexus screamed. "You'll pay for that!" Nexus then starts to charge in to Hinata.

"NEXUS STOP!" Ansem screamed.

Nexus quickly obeyed his masters command with a disgust look on his face.

Suddenly a gust of wind blows in with multiple leaves flying everywhere in a tornado. When the wind and leaves clear there are 2 figure, one being Kakashi and the other being Sasuke Uchiha.

"Yo!" Kakashi said. He then started to look around and see's Ansem and Nexus. "Huh? What the? Did we miss something?"

Naruto and Sakura in the just stood there with there eyes twitching and Naruto had a pissed off look on his face. "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU'VE BEEN KAKASHI-SENSEI! DO EVEN KNOW WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON!" Naruto screamed.

"Hmm? What do you mean Naruto?" Sasuke asked

"That guy there, the one with the tan skin and orange eyes. . . HE KILLED THE HOKAGE!"

"What!" Kakashi and Sasuke exclaimed in unison.

"Nexus, Were leaving!" Ansem explained.

"No disrespect Master but why? I can take on these pathetic weaklings!" Nexus said.

Ansem then opened a corridor of darkness. "We didn't come to fight a full scale battle, we retreat for now." He then looks at Hinata. "We'll come for you again but next time you won't be so lucky."

The ground then starts to shake strongly.

"What the! What's happening? Xion!" Hinata asked.

"I don't know! But it feels like it is something big!" Xion said.

"Hmm this is an interesting development." Ansem said.

"Guess he couldn't handle the powers of darkness." Nexus said.

"What do mean!" Xion asked.

"HAHAHAHAH! THIS POWER! ULTIMATE POWER! IT'S MINE!" a voice screamed within the corridor.

"Hmm, impressive. I never thought "He" would be able to control the powers of darkness." Ansem said with a surprised look on his face.

"That laugh! It couldn't be!" Kakashi exclaimed.

The ground shaking became even stronger and stronger, the laughing continued until a giant 100 foot long white winged snake with a black and red heart like symbol on the head came out of the corridor and destroyed the barrier covering the stadium. Suddenly Sasuke's Curse Mark of Heaven started to hurt.

"GAAAAAHHH!" Sasuke screamed in pain.

"SASUKE!" Sakura and Ino screamed in unison.

"What! Gah, I knew it! It's HIM!" Kakashi said rushing to Sasuke.

Ansem and Nexus started to going through the corridor. Hinata then see's them trying to escape.

"STOP! YOUR NOT GETTING AWAY!" Hinata yelled. Then from behind her Xion got in front of her with her keyblade, stopping her from pursuing the two. "Xion! Why?"

"Trust me, you don't want to go after them!" Xion said.

"We will be back!" Ansem and Nexus said in unison as they both went through the corridor as it disappeared behind them leaving Hinata and the others to deal with the snake.

"Grr!" Xion said as she turned towards the snake. "Dang it! A heartless!" Xion screamed.

Naruto came down from the stands after the barrier went down and landed next to Xion. "Heartless! What the hell's a heartless!" Naruto asked.

"Like I told Hinata, I'll explain everything later, but for now we got to destroy it!" Xion said. "Hinata lets go!'

"Umm. . . right!"

"HAHAHAHA! YOU THINK YOU CAN DESTROY ME!" the heartless said. Out of the top of the snake head, the torso of a pale white man with long black hair came out.

"No way! I knew it!" Kakashi said with sweat running down his face.

"What do you mean? Do you know him?" Xion asked.

"Kakashi-Sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah I know him. Orochimaru, S-Rank criminal, Former Leaf Ninja, A member of the Leaf's Legendary Sannin and known killer who uses the bodies for experiments for his search immortality." Kakashi explained.

Xion and Hinata looked at each other then back at Kakashi. "So… mainly a sick freak of nature." They said in unison.

"Basically."

"HAHAHAH! Unfortunately for you Kakashi, I am no longer Orochimaru. I have rose to an even greater creature! I am now truly immortal! I don't even need the silly power of the Uchiha clan! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Orochimaru explained manically.

Sasuke looked at Orochimaru with a disgust look on his face. "Why you! Don't you dare insult the name Uchiha!" Sasuke screamed in a fit of rage.

Sakura in the stands stood there clenching her fist in anger at Orochimaru. "You asshole! First you gave Sasuke that damn mark on his neck and now you say you don't need him anymore! What did you even need him for!" Sakura screamed.

"I think I can explain that." a voice said.

"What!"

In a puff of smoke, a white hair man appeared on a toad in the stadium. Everyone turned and looked at him.

"Hey Naruto! You gonna take what Orochimaru said about your friend!"

"Hey Pervy Sage!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Lord Jiraiya!" Kakashi said.

"Umm. . . Who?" Xion asked.

"Another member of the Sannin but don't worry he's on our side." Kakashi said.

"Sorry guys but I'm not fight this time Naruto is going to fight this… thing that was Orochimaru." Jiraiya explained.

"WHAT!" everyone screamed.

"What's the big deal? He didn't get to show his power cause of this happening so now's a good time."

"Well I guess. Hmm. . . alright Sasuke you too, help Naruto against Orochimaru. I'll go help with the evacuation in case Orochimaru decides to attack the village." Kakashi said.

"I'll help as well umm. . . Kakashi was it? Anyway Hinata help your friends." Xion said.

Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke look at their teachers and gave them a simple nod of the head understanding them.

"Good. Sakura, Ino your with me." Kakashi demanded

"Understood!" Sakura and Ino said in unison.

In a puff of smoke once again the three disappeared.

"Umm Jiraiya was it?" Xion asked.

"Yes?" Jiraiya responded.

"We better get out of the area. This is going to get crazy."

"Good idea."

The two then sped out of the arena leaving only Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke (still in a bit of pain caused by the curse mark) to face Orochimaru.

"Lets go!" Naruto screamed.

"Right!" Hinata and Sasuke said in unison.

The three rushed into Orochimaru's monstrous form at full speed.

Sasuke did a couple of handsigns. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique" he though. He then blow out a massive ball of fire that hitting one of Orochimaru's wing. Then he ran up the wall and did some handsigns "Chidori! One Thousand Birds!" he screamed. He then rushed downward until he got to the ground and then jump into the air and hitting his other wing.

Naruto went to the tail area and did some handsigns as well. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he said. Then in a large puff of smoke about 2 dozen clones of Naruto appeared. "Are you ready!" said the original Naruto. "Yeah!" cheered the clones of Naruto. "Alright lets do this!" the original said. The clones started to grab on to the tail of Orochimaru tail and started to make more clone of himself, this time there were over one-thousand clones on the tail and the original Naruto on the back of Orochimaru. "Sasuke! Hinata! I got on his back. I'll force him to the ground!". Once again he made more clone and the weight of all the clone force Orochimaru to the ground.

"GAH! YOU LITTLE" screamed Orochimaru. He then fired multiple blast of energy at both Naruto and Sasuke, hitting them and leaving a crater. He then realised multiply snakes into the ground that pop out of the ground hitting everyone.

"Gah! Damn you" Sasuke screamed

"Darn it! This guy is tough!" Naruto said

"I won't give up!" Hinata screamed. Hinata then got on to the head of the beast once known as Orochimaru, keyblade in hand she started to constantly hit Orochimaru's upper torso. Hinata knew some new powers that she wanted to use be couldn't before, but now was a good time. She then pointed the head of the keyblade at Orochimaru. "FREEZE!" she screamed. A single shot of ice came out of her keyblade and hit her target freezing it. "Naruto! Sasuke! We got to attack all together now!"

"OK!" Naruto and Sasuke said in unison.

The three rejoined together to get ready for one final strike on Orochimaru. The three then rushed into Orochimaru with full force.

"This is for excepting the darkness!" Hinata said.

"You'll pay for insulting my friends!" screamed Naruto.

"How ironic. . . the one who cursed me with his mark will now be destroyed by my hands!" Sasuke said in a calm voice.

Hinata's Keyblade started to glow and Hinata's eyes widen again showing her a new power. The image show a boy lunging his keyblade into the ground and a circle of life appearing. She got back to normal as quickly as possible. "I understand. Thank you whoever you are." Hinata then sped pass Naruto and Sasuke and jumped into air as she also started to glow right over Orochimaru. "This is the end of you! Orochimaru! Trinity Limit!" Hinata then lunged the top of her keyblade into Orochimaru's head, as soon as it hit him a beautiful pattern of light appeared right above Orochimaru's head.

"GGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I HAVE OBTAINED THE ULTIMATE POWER AND THINK I WAS DESTROYED BY 3 WORTHLESS GENIN! ENJOY YOUR VICTORY WHILE YOU CAN! I WILL RETURN SOMEDAY EVEN STRONGER THEN EVER!" Orochimaru screamed. A beautiful crystal heart came out of Orochimaru's snake body and the heart flies away, the body then disintegrates until it was like Orochimaru wasn't there.

Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke were all exhausted and constantly panting from the fight when they heard clapping, when they turned around they saw Kakashi, Xion and Jiraiya in the stands. Naruto then gave a thumbs up to them, Hinata smile gently, and Sasuke turned around and put his fist in the air with a small but noticeable grin.

Xion, Kakashi and Jiraiya came done from the stands to congratulate them.

"Now that is what I call an intense battle! That my pupil for ya!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"Impressive, you three showed a great results of your training." Kakashi complemented.

"You were all great. Even though 2 of you weren't keyblade wielders, you all put up a great fight." Xion said with a smile.

"Now then on to other business." Kakashi said staring at Xion.

"I know, I know. . . I got some explaining to do and stuff but we don't have to do it here."

"Your right. You better explain to us what all of this is about."

Meanwhile in the forest away from Konoha, Kabuto Yakushi and the "Sound Four" are returning to Otogakure when they are stopped by a man in a snake-skin hooded coat.

"Who are you!" said the one with for arms.

"Hehehe. A friend." said the man in a snake-skin hooded coat with a familiar voice.


	10. Chapter 10

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 10:Explination

(Time jump after the incident with Shukaku and Gaara.)

After the attack on Konoha from both Ansem/Nexus, Orochimaru's heartless, and Gaara who had a similar childhood to Naruto, its now raining and everyone except Xion and Jiraiya was wearing black for the 3rd Hokage funeral with a flower for him. Hinata and Naruto went to gravestone and placed there flower on it tearing a bit.

"Iruka-Sensei. . . What are human? Is life just that simple?" Naruto asked.

His and Hinata's teacher stared at both at them explaining that its human nature, that it's the way humans are. Hinata and Naruto then smile at there teacher agreeing with him, the rain starts to clear and sun starts to shine, Naruto then runs off with the rest of Team 7 while Hinata goes to Xion.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your Hokage. I feel like its was my fault." Xion said.

"Its not your fault, I've should have been more prepared for the attack Ansem and Nexus planned." Hinata said.

"But an innocent man got killed because of Ansem! I couldn't. . . I should of-"

Hinata them slapped Xion across the face then hugged her. "Its ok. . . Its not your fault. It was the powers of darkness fault." Hinata then started to tear again. "I need to become stronger against the darkness." Hinata then let Xion go.

Kakashi then came over to Hinata and Xion. "So Xion, I'm going to ask you two to come with me." Kakashi said. Xion then turn towards Kakashi.

"I understand me. . . But why Hinata as well?" Xion asked

"I heard from Naruto that Hinata knew you before you first appeared, so I got some questions for her too." Kakashi explained.

"Well. . . If you say so." Hinata said.

"Good. We will meet at the Training Ground."

"Alright. Hinata can you show me the way there?" Xion asked.

"Umm. . . Ok." Hinata said.

The scene changes the Training Field. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and the rest of Konoha 11 (Except Kiba and Shino because of family buisness) were all there waiting for Hinata and Xion. Then in a puff of smoke Hinata and Xion appear in front of them.

"Great we are all here. I guess you should properly introduce yourself."

"Yeah." Xion said. "Ahem. . . My name is Xion, well. . . This may sound difficult to believe but I'm from another world." Everyone looked at her with a dumbfound look on their face. "I know, I know its hard to believe but its true. Anyway. . . Hinata the reason I look the same as I first met you all those years ago was because strangely time flows differently in each of our worlds."

"So that explains why you're the same age as I first met you." Hinata said

"Truth is I really don't have a world anymore. . . because I originally didn't exist. I was once was a Nobody."

"What do you mean a "Nobody" you look like a normal person to us?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto you asked about what the heartless were, well the heartless are creature of darkness represented by that symbol we all saw on Orochimaru, Ansem has control over the heartless and he makes them do his bidding, they eat hearts not the physical heart but a heart like the one Orochimaru released after you three destroyed him."

"Oh, but what does that have to do with you being a "Nobody"?"

"Well. . . "Nobodies" are different. You see when a person with a strong heart, either good or evil becomes a heartless the empty shell of the body remains behind and takes on a life of its own. It's a empty vessel, but they truly don't exist at all." Xion then starts to get depressed a bit.

"Oh so that's what you meant. But you said you were "once" a nobody so what happened?" Sakura asked.

Xion then took a deep breath. "Well it's a long story, but I guess you guys should know what I went through." Xion then used some of her magic to create a dome around everyone. "I'm going to be showing you my memories and the stuff I went through." Xion explained.

"Well explain away." Kakashi said.

"Yeah we got all the time we need." Jiraiya said.

Xion then started to show them multiple different memories. Memories of her time in Organization XIII.

"So who are those guys in the black cloaks like yours?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, these guys look sinister." Sasuke said.

"They're Nobodies as well. They're like Ansem, they control the lesser nobodies. These guys were a group call Organization XIII, I was the unconsidered 14th member. There leader was the nobody of a man named Xenohart, the original form of the Ansem everyone here met and the Nobodies leader. I only had two friends while I was there." Her memories then shows her time at the clock tower with Roxas and Axel, she then starts to tear a bit. "These guy were them, there names were Roxas and Axel, my best friends."

"What happened to them? Did they die or something?" Naruto asked.

"IDIOT! No one asks a question like that! This is an emotional time for her!" Sakura said hitting Naruto on the head.

"Its alright, we were nobodies at the time so we didn't die but fade away. I was different, I was originally created as a replica keyblade wielder for the Organization. Roxas went back to his original form and Axel. . . its to tough to say. We don't have to worry about the Organization. Before I came back, the true Keyblade wielder defeated all of them except the leader, but I think the leader was defeated by him." Her memories then showed Sora and his friends fighting and defeating the remaining members of Organization XIII.

Hinata's eyes widen when she saw Sora. "That boy. . . he's the one that I saw using Trinity Limit!"

"Yes this boy is who Roxas was before an incident."

"What incident?" Kakashi asked.

Xion's memories then show Sora, younger releasing his and Kairi's Heart from his body.

"I see, so he released his heart to save that girl." Kakashi then looks at Xion. "That girl looks like you."

"Yeah, another incident cause Sora having to have to go to sleep for a year to regain his memories he lost, so he doesn't remember the incident though. Unfortunately, his strongest memories: which were about Kairi went into me giving me a physical look as what you all see."

"So was this girl like this Sora guy girlfriend or something?" Naruto asked

Xion started to blush a bit.

"Baka! Once again don't ask a question like that!" Sakura yelled hitting Naruto on the head again.

"Well its hard to say but Sora really cares for Kairi and she was kidnapped a few couple of times." Xion said still blushing. Her memories then show Sora and his friends at "The Castle that Never Was" with Ansem the Wise and the Kingdom Hearts Encoder, it then shows the machine exploding and Xion is then blasted away to a lower floor of the castle. "That man with the blonde beard was the real Ansem, Xenahort's Heartless took his name for himself and ruined it."

"So what was the heart shape moon about?" Sakura asked.

"That was Kingdom Hearts, its what the organization what to achieve. Xemnas said that the organization members would become whole if they complete, Kingdom Hearts is said to hold immense power knowledge and wisdom. Ansem the Wise use tried to encode it into data, but it exploded."

"Hmm so the machine exploded and gave you a separate body and heart." Jiraiya said.

"Yeah, it was unexpected to me. But it also brought Xehanort's Heartless back as well. You've already met him, although he never had had an apprentice before. "

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Ok let me get this straight. . . . Some guy named Xehanort became a heatless and nobody. The heartless him was named Ansem and controlled the lesser heartless and his nobody named Xemnas became leader of the lesser nobodies. So why would Ansem come here?"

"I wish I knew Naruto. . . I wish I knew. I sensed him after was unconscious for a while and followed him here." Xion said. She then lowered the dome around everyone. "Well that was everything I had to tell you all, thank you for listening."

"No problem, were all friends here." Naruto said.

"It was nice properly meeting you." Sakura said bowing her head.

"Whatever, I came here because I wanted to learn more about that Ansem guy." Sasuke said with a smirk attitude.

"I've gotten some great information out of this, I'll tell the elders about this." Kakashi said. He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Well I'll see you guys later. I got some peeping- I mean "research" to do at the bathhouse. See ya." Jiraiya said. He also then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Soon Xion was being shown around Konoha by Xion, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

"Wow, this village is just as big as Twilight Town, people in the village all look nice, and even the food smells good." Xion said. Drool then started to appear on the side of lip.

Hinata then started to giggle. "Xion, your drooling!"

"Oops, sorry about that." Xion said with a smile on his face. Everyone but Sasuke then started to laugh, and Xion then started to blush until she was bright red.

"I am a bit hungry, how about you guys?" Naruto asked. His stomach started to growl

"Umm. . . Sure Naruto." Hinata said timidly.

"Eh, why not?" Sakura said.

"Hmp, whatever" Sasuke said.

Soon the five were at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Thank you for the food!" the five said.

Naruto then started slurping up the ramen instantly. "Don't worry guys! I'll pay." He then took out a frog wallet that looked like it was about to burst.

"WA! Naruto! Where did you get all that money!" Sakura asked with a surprised look on her face.

Naruto started to giggle. "Well this is what I get for saving my money!"

"Impressive idiot." Sasuke said with sarcastic tone.

After the five finished there ramen, Sakura suggested to get some ice cream, everyone agreed excepted Sasuke who said he had to leave. Naruto, Hinata, Sakura and Xion all then got some ice cream.

"Hmm. . . feels just like old times." Xion said eating her ice cream. "Thank you for treating me for the day."

"Aw it was nothing." Naruto said.

"Y-yes. . . it was nice. I mean we are all friends here." Hinata said

"Yeah, its true. . . we are friends." Sakura said smiling.

Kakashi then appeared in front of them in a puff of smoke. "Yo"

"Hey Kakashi-Sensei, what's going on?" Naruto said.

"Well, I told the elders the information and they said they were able to prepare an apartment for Xion.

"Really! That great! Xion, your going to be living in the village with all of us." Sakura said.

"Yeah." Xion said with a smile on her face as she looked at the stars. "A new life begins now."


	11. Chapter 11

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 11: Xion's Training Session

Time-jump to after Itachi and Sasuke incident. Also during the time where Naruto and Jiraiya are looking for Lady Tsunade)

(Xion was already explained most of things about Hinata's world: chakra, Ninjustsu, etc.)

Hinata and Xion are at the training field. Xion has decided to prepare Hinata for any upcoming threats so she decided to train Hinata and teach her some skills that she knows and used. There are multiple wooden statues to show a demonstration.

"Umm. . . Are you sure about this Xion?" Hinata asked.

"Yes Hinata, its time I teach you some of the techniques I know as a keyblade wielder." Xion explained. Xion then took a deep breath and concentrated. "The first move I will teach you is call " Ragnarok", it will let send a light barrage of physical attacks with the keyblade itself and then you will get to fire rays of energy in a circular position that will home into multiple enemies." she explained. She then looked at one of the statues. "I will now demonstrate it. I would stand back." Hinata then backed away from Xion as she demonstrate "Ragnarok". Xion started to glow a bit in front of the statue, she then started to attack the statue with three attacks, then she stepped back and jumped into the air and pointed her keyblade at the statues, multiple balls of light appeared around her keyblade and were fire from it with all the little balls of light hitting the statue eventually destroying it. Hinata was amazed at what she saw Xion do.

"Whoa! Do really think I will be able to do that!" Hinata asked.

"Yes, I believe you can. We must train and get stronger to fight any threat. Like Ansem and Nexus."

"Hmp Nexus. . . I won't lose to him again. Not after what he did to Naruto." Hinata though.

Xion looks at Hinata who has a determined look on her face. "Now let start, Hinata concentrate, look into yourself, take a deep breath, and calm down."

Hinata looked back at Xion. "I understand." Hinata then for a week started to practice trying to do "Ragnarok", she has been gasping for breath under the hard training. Xion had been watching her training the entire time without sleep. "One more time!" Hinata said. This time she finally executed "Ragnarok" but it was a bit different, mainly the balls of light looked more like blue chakra. "I. . . I did it! I actually did it! I master "Ragnarok"! Xion I-". Hinata then looked at Xion who fell asleep and she couldn't help but giggle.

The next morning, Xion woke up with a giant yawn with a dazed look on her face. "Mmm. . . Must have dozed off." Xion looked around and realized she was still at the "Training Field".

"Hey Xion!" a voice said in the distance. Xion turns around and see's Hinata running towards her all dirty and sweaty from training. "I did it! I actually did it!" Hinata cheered.

"You actually did "Ragnarok"!" Xion asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Yeah! Let me show you." Hinata said, she demonstrated her "Ragnarok" on the last remaining wooden statue: her keyblade started to glow, she then did a three light slash on it, then she back flipped and hovered in the air and multiple balls of what look like blue flames which surprised Xion, Hinata then fired them at the statue destroying it in the matter of second.

"Impressive, but why did the balls of energy look like blue flames?" Xion asked.

"I wondered about that at first but then I realized it that the blue flames were my chakra that took on a solid form. Either way I still mastered my own version of "Ragnarok"! Oh after I master it, I practice my Taijustsu and created my own style of the "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms". She then put her keyblade away and showed Xion "Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms" she then emit a constant stream of chakra from her palms, creating extremely sharp chakra blades, her natural flexibility made her arms look like they disappeared when really they were moving really fast forming a barrier around her.

Xion stood there amazed with what she saw with an impressed look on her face. She then started to clap for Hinata when she finished. "Congratulations." Xion said complementing Hinata.

"Why thank you Xion. Lets head back to the village, I'm starting to get hungry."

Xion's stomach starts to growl, she then starts to blush. "Yeah I'm starting to get hungry as well." She then smiled at Hinata.

When they got back to the village Hinata noticed Naruto who had some bruises on him with Jiraiya with two women and a pig, one of the woman had beautiful blonde hair with a diamond on her forehead, with a great pair of breast, wearing green robe with a gray kimono-style blouse and wearing dark bluish-gray pants, the other woman was a black haired woman in a bluish kimono.

Naruto then looked over and saw Hinata and Xion. "Hey Hinata, Hey Xion!" he yelled as he rushed over to them.

"Why hello Naruto. Xion said.

"Umm. . . H-hi N-Naruto." Hinata timidly said blushing.

"Hey Naruto, come on, we got to bring Tsunade here to the Hokage's Tower, you can catch up with your girlfriend later." Jiraiya said.

Naruto then started to blush. "Pervy old man!" he muttered. He looked at Hinata who was bright red after what Jiraiya said. "Well. . .I guess I'll going." Naruto said still blushing, he then ran off to catch up with Jiraiya.

Xion started to giggle. "That Jiraiya, always making silly comments". She the looked at Hinata who was still bright red in the face. "Hey are you alright Hinata?"

Hinata just stood there motionlessly trying to figure out what just happened. "Me and Naruto. . . Me as his girlfriend" She though. Suddenly she fainted.

"Hinata!" Xion screamed. "What was that all about?" She though with a confused look on her face.

The next day it was announced That the Fifth Hokage was finally chosen.


	12. Chapter 12

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 12: Battle with the spider

After a lot of harsh training from Xion learning new moves, Hinata decided to go home and go to sleep for the night. She was walking passed her father who still had the look that was more concern with other things that depressed Hinata, but she gained some confidence to ignore him. She went to her and went to bed where she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen and she sensed darkness from somewhere.

Elsewhere Xion was walking around the village, she already told Tsunade everything and she was still getting used to the village when she also sensed a incredible darkness.

"No! Don't me that Ansem's back! Why?" Xion thought. She rushed over to the village gate hiding in a near by tree where she saw Sasuke with a backpack on. "Sasuke! What's he doing here? Don't tell me?" She then saw a dark aura around him, she then saw Sakura near him. "Sakura! What's she doing here! Get away from him!" Sasuke then got behind her and knock her out, and then placed her on a near by bench, afterwards he left through the village gate. After he left, Xion went to Sakura and checked on her. "Whew she's alright, unconscious but alright." She then look in the direction of the village gate. "That darkness, where did it come from? Why didn't I sensed it before!" Xion thought.

Suddenly she sensed the darkness behind her but before she could do anything she was knocked out by Sasuke. "Don't meddle with what I want to do, Xion." Sasuke said as he walked out of the village gate again.

When Xion regained conscious, she realized it was the early morning the next day. "Jeez that hurt. Sakura!" She turned to see that Sakura was fine, soon the two jonin ninja known as Izumo and Kotetsu who were running an errand for Tsunade, when they saw Xion sitting at the bench and Sakura unconscious. Sakura wakes up and tells them about Sasuke leaving for Otogakure but she doesn't know why. When Xion hears this she rushes over to the Hyuga compound to get Hinata. Hinata then appears at the front door.

"Xion! What are you doing here? What happened?" Hinata asked. Xion then explained what happened with her, Sakura and Sasuke. "No way! But why! What does he have to gain by going to Otogakure?"

"I don't know! But we better head to Lady Tsunade as fast as possible!" Xion said.

"Alright!" Hinata said. The two started to go Tsunade when Hinata starting thinking. "Xion, I think I know what's going on, but its only a theory."

"What is it?" Xion asked.

"Remember when you told us about the heartless and nobodies? Well I was thinking, we destroyed Orochimaru's heartless but we never saw his nobody."

Xion then started to realize where Hinata was getting at. "Darn it! Why didn't I think of that earlier!" Xion though. "But that still doesn't explain why he would want Sasuke!" Xion said.

"I also been thinking of that as well, remember Organization XIII? What if Orochimaru's nobody is recruiting rouge ninja! If he goes through with it he will create a new Organization XIII!"

"No! We must not let him!"

The two then got to Lady Tsunade and Hinata told her about her theory, which angered her. "Well if this theory is true, then we must not take any chances, Hinata find Shikamaru, I told him to get a team ready to go after Sasuke. I want you to join that team, meet them at the village gate. Xion, I want you to stay here and protect the village with the rest of the remaining ninjas. Now go!"

"Yes my lady." Hinata said.

"Of course." Xion said.

As soon as the two left the office, Hinata went to join Shikamaru at the village gate, leaving Xion alone. "We got to get him back." Xion said tearing.

Hinata rushed to the village gate as fast as she could. "Gotta hurry!" Hinata thought. When she to the gate, she saw Shikamaru along her fellow teammate Kiba and Akamaru, Choji and Naruto. " Hey guys! Sorry I'm late."

"Hinata! Where were you? I went to the compound to get you but you weren't there." Shikamaru asked

"Sorry about that, Xion and Tsunade told me the situation. What's the plan?"

Shikamaru explained the formation they would be in for this mission, Hinata's role will be to cover there rear from the back in a single line formation.

"Understood, lets go!" Hinata said.

Kiba then looked at Hinata and smiled. "You've gained confidence in yourself, thanks to that keyblade." Kiba thought.

Sakura then came to get joined the group, but Shikamaru refused. "Naruto! I beg you! I couldn't do it. . . I couldn't stop him! The only person . . . Who could probably Sasuke is you. . . Naruto. Only you." Sakura said crying.

"Sakura, you really like Sasuke huh?" Naruto said. "I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand."

Sakura started to cry even more. "Naruto. . . Thank you."

Naruto then gave her a thumbs up. "Don't worry! I'll bring him back! Promise of a lifetime!"

"Hey Hey Naruto! You sure you can keep that promise!" Kiba asked.

Naruto then chuckled a bit. "I won't take back my words! That's my ninja way! Lets go!"

"Well. . . We've wasted quite a bit of time. . . Lets hurry." The five then left the village to go after Sasuke.

(Time jump to after Choji beating Jiroubou)

Hinata has her Byakugan activated. "Whew!"

"What is it Hinata?"

"It seems that there aren't any traps! They must of all though that we were all kill by that big guy!"

"DAMN THEM. . . FOR UNDERESTIMATING US!" Naruto screamed.

"Yeah but this provide us with the personal opportunity for a counter attack." Shikamaru explained.

(Time jump to after the failed counter attack, now Hinata and Kidomaru are alone to battle)

Hinata activates her Byakugan. "If you want to get my comrades you gonna have to go through me!" Hinata said.

"Well this might be fun, I'll play with you for 3 minutes and then kill you!" Kidomaru said.

"I better keep the keyblade out of this battle until its absolutely necessary." Hinata thought. She then got into her Hyuga style stance.

Kidomaru then started to spit multiple webs at Hinata but she easily avoided them all.

"Come on and fight, what are you a weakling? A coward!" Kidomaru taunted.

Hinata then came out of hiding and rushed into him, hitting multiple points on his body leaving him in a crater. Hinata then started to pant heavily and started to bleed when Kidomaru got back up and punched her in the gut revealing the curse mark on his body. Hinata was surprised at the marks she saw on his body and started to calm down. "You're strong, but I have no time for you." Hinata said.

Kidomaru then did a summoning justsu, summoning a large spider, soon he released multiple spider at Hinata. " Let's see if you can beat this!"

Hinata then started the "Protection of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms" forming an invincible barrier, stunning Kidomaru. Hinata then smiled. "Beat it".

Kidomaru then started to get really angry, but strangely he started to laugh. "Well you little bitch, you think those eyes will save you forever, I'll find its weak point." He then disappeared out of sight. Hinata tried to use her Byakugan but she didn't have the time because spiders were coming at her from everywhere, eventually covering her in webs. "Hehe. . . Game over!" Kidomaru then went into his 2nd level curse seal and got a bow and arrow ready to kill her. He then fired his arrow. "NOW DIE" Kidomaru manically said.

"I'm I going to die? I feel like I'm losing conscious." Hinata said. She thought of everything she went through up this moment. She started to think of Naruto mostly and his will to never give. "Your right Naruto! If you won't give up then neither will I!" Hinata said. She then started to glow with a bright light that freed her from the web, She then quickly summoned her keyblade and stopped the arrow with her keyblade.

"What! That can't be! No one can stop my arrows! WHO IS THIS GIRL!"

"My name is Hinata Hyuga, shinobi of Konoha, and more importantly a keyblade wielder!" Hinata proudly said. She then force the arrow back at Kidomaru.

"Whoa!" Kidomaru quickly dodged his arrow. Hinata then rushed in faster then before into Kidomaru and started to rapidly attack Kidomaru. "Gah!" Screamed Kidomaru.

"Your done!" Hinata screamed. "Time for "Ars Arcanum"!" Hinata thought. Her keyblade started to glow and she rapidly starting to attack even fiercely then before. "Now "Ragnarok"!" She thought. She then did three light attacks then back-flipped backwards and multiple ball of chakra then appeared, she then fired them at Kidomaru.

"Gah!" Screamed Kidomaru. "All this power! Where did it come from! Kidomaru thought as he fell to the ground.

Hinata started to pant even heavier then before, out of breath as she started to walk in the direction of where her comrade were going, until she heard giggling followed with a quick scream of pain. When Hinata turned around, she a web spear almost at face then she saw Kidomaru's dead body along with Nexus with his keyblade stabbing Kidomaru in the back.

"Hmm, what a sore loser." Nexus said sarcastically. She then turned to Hinata. "Long time know see. . . Hinata."

"What do you want!" Hinata demanded.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to fight, just talk." Nexus explained

"Yah right!"

"Hmm, a word from my master. We won't come back in two and a half years."

"Why!"

"My master wants a decent challenge so he is giving you the chance to train and stronger then ever. I want you to hate me, to give more a purpose to work harder. You might remember my face."

"What do you mean!"

Nexus then removed his mask, shocking and angering Hinata. He was a long-haired boy with eyes like her except it was black around his white pupils.

Hinata then clenched her fist in anger. "Why! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!. . . NEJI!" she screamed.

"Power! Pure power! I was weak before this power, then I met Ansem and he gave me this incredible power. Don't you see Hinata! I chose to do this! Me! Of my own free will! So get over it you failure!" Neji/Nexus demanded. He then opened a corridor of darkness. "Good bye, and remember what I told you. Failure!" He then went through the portal and it closed behind him.

Hinata just stood there, angry until she fainted and lost consciousness.


	13. Chapter 13

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 13: Awaken in the hospital

"NEJI!" Hinata screamed as she woke up. "Ugh! Hmm?" She then started to look around as she notice that she wasn't in the forest with Kidomaru's dead body. "Am I at. . . The hospital?" She then realized that she wasn't in here clothes but a single hospital gown, she also notice the door close to her and on the other side was a curtain separating her from someone on the other side, all she was able to see on the other side was a silhouette of what look like an average sized boy sitting upward. "Umm. . . H-hello? Is anyone there?"

"Hmm, Hinata? Is that you?" The silhouette said. The silhouette then move the curtain revealing to be Naruto all covered in bandages that looked like he had a big battle. He then blushed at seeing Hinata in a hospital gown. "Wow I never realized how cute she was before!" he though. "Umm. . . so your alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright injured but alright." Hinata said with a depressed look on her face. "So. . . I guess this means that. . . He's gone right?" She asked.

"Yeah. . . Sasuke's gone." Naruto said with depressed look on his face.

"We will get them back, one day because they is our comrade."

""Them?, They?" Who else do you mean besides Sasuke?" Naruto asked with an exclaimed look on his face.

Hinata then got an angered and depressed look on her face. "Well. . . I found Nexus identity. He appeared before after I beat that spider guy. He took of his mask and. . . well. . .". Hinata then went over to Naruto's bed.

"Well. . . What happened? Did you have to fight him?" Naruto asked.

"No I didn't have to fight him, but he told me that he and Ansem won't come back in 2 and a half years."

"Why? I mean I'm glad he and Nexus won't the village for a while but still, why are they not going to come back?"

"They want me to train. . . And get stronger, they want me to hate them and use my rage to make me want to train." Hinata said getting angry. "ITS NEJI! NEXUS WAS NEJI THIS ENTIRE TIME! HE LET HIMSELF BE CONSUMED BY DARKNESS AND BECOME ANSEM'S APPENTICE! HE CAUSE ALL OF THIS!" Hinata screamed.

Naruto stood there awestruck at what she said. "GRRR! I can't believe this! I knew Neji was a jerk and all and that we haven't seen in a couple of months. . . But this! Damn it. Sasuke, Neji whose next!" Naruto said as he started to tear.

Hinata also then started to tear at the eye with a depressed look on her face. "My cousin, my own cousin! I can't believe he did all this! All for what! Power!" Hinata said as she then started to cry.

"Hinata don't start crying, we both lost someone important. For me it was a friend, and for you it was family. But we can't let that stop us, maybe we will rescue them!"

Hinata then look at Naruto wiping the tears away revealing a little smile. "Your right, if we can save them we will."

"Then lets make a promise to each other, a promise for the both of us to get stronger and rescue the one we care about." Naruto then puts his pinky finger out.

"Yeah" Hinata then put her pinky finger out as well and wrapped it around Naruto's, they then started to shake there pinky fingers when Hinata started to hear her heart beating. "I'm this close to him, and all I do is touch his pinky finger, there has to be something better I can do to keep my promise. But what?" She though while blushing. She then realized her body was getting closer and closer to Naruto without realizing it.

"Umm. . . H-Hinata? W-what are you doing?" Naruto asked while blushing. "Man, how could I not have realize this sooner! She's been in love with me for who knows how long! I gave the confidence to train hard, I only notice her as a shinobi, and not a girl. I never realized that before, but I will make it up to her." Naruto though as he stared to get closer to Hinata.

There hand changed from holding pinky fingers to holding hands. The two got closer and closer. There upper bodies then got in even closer.

"Hinata" he said without hesitation.

"N-naruto" she said with any regret.

The two puckered there lips as they got even closer, neither one of them trying to stop, soon they passionately kissed each other. After about three minutes, there lips separated from each other.

"Wow. . . That was just. . .wow!" Naruto said blushing.

"You know. . . That was my first kiss." Hinata said blushing.

"Well I'm glad my first kiss "with a girl" was with you Hinata."

Hinata then started to giggle remembering Naruto's "first" kiss with Sasuke. That's when the two heard a knock on the door. "Hmm?"

"Hey Naruto you in there?" the voice asked.

"Gah! Its Shikamaru, if he see's us together in this. . . Position, he'll get the wrong idea." Naruto whispered.

"What do we do?" Hinata whispered.

"Umm. . . Ah. . . Oh . . . Hinata get under the covers!" Naruto whispered.

Hinata then turned bright red. "Um. . .are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Have any other idea? Naruto whisper sarcastically smiling.

"I. . . I guess not." Hinata said with a smile. She then got under the covers with Naruto while he was sitting up pretending to be depressed about Sasuke. Hinata then heard Shikamaru come and Naruto told him what happened between him and Sasuke at "The Final Valley". Sakura and Lady Tsunade came in to Naruto and Hinata's room.

"I'm sorry Sakura." Naruto said.

"Why're you apologizing?" Sakura said. She then went over to the closed window and opened them. "You look really weird! You're just like a mummy, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry. . . I . . ." Naruto started to say.

"Listen, the weather's good today. I opened the curtains, now. . ."

"Sakura! I. . . I'll definitely keep my promise! I said it was a lifetime promise!"

Hinata under the covers, hearing everything Naruto said to Sakura. She knew that he will keep any promise that he makes no matter what. "I am defiantly glad I fell in love with Naruto." Hinata thought. "Man its getting hot under here I hope they all leave soon." Hinata then started to feel sleepy as her eye felt heavy all of a sudden as she also started to get sweaty as well. "Hmm. . . Tired, maybe if I just shut my eyes for just a second. . ." Hinata though as she fell asleep. After a few minutes. . .

"Hmm. . . That was a pretty good nap I-" Hinata said before she realized where she was. It was a dark place, there was water everywhere, multiple doors by her and there were pipes on the ceiling. "W-where in the world am I!" Hinata thought. She suddenly heard a growl coming from one of the rooms. "W-what was that?" Hinata said. She started to walk toward the source of the growl, as it got louder and louder as she felt an powerful presence. "This presence, what is it?" Hinata thought. She went through one of the doorways, seeing a light at the end of the hallway. At the end of the hallway. . .

"What! W-what is this!" Hinata thought. She saw what looked like a large gate with a seal in the middle of it. Hinata then started to get even closer when two blood red eyes and sharp teeth appear inside the gate with an ominous red glow.

"Hmm. . . Interesting I never expected to see you in the boy's body." Said the thing behind the gate.

"W-who are you?" Hinata asked. "Oh man! This feeling, its. . . Its so powerful! Wait! It said "the boy's" body, what boy?" Hinata thought. She then remembered that she fell asleep in Naruto's bed from the heat being under the covers. She then realized where she was. "I'm in Naruto's. . . body?" Hinata ask the figure behind the gate while turning away.

"Yes and No. Your not actually inside his body, but his subconscious. Its strange because usually only he is able to come in here."

Hinata then turned back to the figure. "Who are you? And what are you doing in Naruto's body? Answer!" Hinata demanded.

The figure then started to chuckle. "Don't worry little girl, I won't hurt the boy, beside I can't with this damn seal on."

"Then tell me! Who are you?"

"I can explain that Hinata." A voice in the distance said.

Hinata then heard footsteps coming in, it revealed to be Naruto Uzumaki with a serious look on his face. "N-naruto. . . What's going on? Do you know who this is?"

"Yeah I know what this is. . . Unfortunately this guy was the reason I was an outcast to the entire village." Naruto then went to Hinata and whispered "This is the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon."

Hinata's eyes widen at what he told her and look at the gate. "B-but in class. . . They told us the demon was destroyed."

The fox started to chuckle again. "Well I guess you shouldn't believe everything you hear. What really happened was that the 4th Hokage did a sealing jutsu that sacrificed his own life and sealed me into a new-born baby. That baby was this boy right here. Naruto Uzumaki." The fox explained.

"S-so all this time. . . The reason you were an outcast. . . It was caused by this demon trapped inside. . . and you're the jailer." Hinata said.

"Yeah . . . I'm sorry I never told you, I recently found out myself." Naruto said.

Hinata then rushed up to him and hugged him. "I should be the one apologizing, you went through this pain and no one helped you." Hinata said as she started to cry and lowered her head.

Naruto then picked up Hinata's head, wiping away the tears on he face and kissed her on the lips for a second and let her go. "Its alright." He then wrapped his hands around her hugging her both with there eyes closed.

When the two reopened there eyes, they realized that they were back in the hospital. Hinata then came out from the covers.

"Looks like were back." Hinata said, panting from the heat.

"Yeah, although truth is we really never left in the first place." Naruto said. The two then started to laugh a bit. "Listen Hinata, there is something need to ask you." Naruto said with a serious look on his face.

"Umm. . . I think I know. . . You don't want me to tell anyone about the Nine-Tailed Fox right?"

"Yeah, I think it would be easier if the others find out on there own."

"I understand."

Naruto then went over to Hinata and kissed her again holding her hand.

"Well it looks you two are getting along quiet nicely." a voice said.

The two quickly stopped kissing and turned there heads to see Jiraiya smiling and Tsunade with a surprised look on her in the room, the two let go of each others hand, the two were than blushing.

"So how long have you two been together? Well?" Jiraiya asked with a perverted tone in his voice.

"Well. . . We. . . I umm. . ." Naruto started to stagger as he was blushing.

Tsunade started to giggle a bit at this happening. "Don't worry you two, we won't tell."

The two then gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks Grandma Tsunade." Naruto said. "Y-yes we really appreciate this." Hinata said bowing her head.

"No problem. Naruto, Jiraiya has something to talk to about. Hinata, Xion also has something to talk to you about as well. I'll need you to get dressed and follow me. Your clothes back on your bed. Jiraiya don't even think about peeping while she's changing!" Tsunade said.

Jiraiya then got a depressed look on his face while Naruto glared at him. "Don't worry Grandma, I'll make sure he doesn't look."

After a few minutes, Hinata was fully changed into clothes and in the lobby of the hospital. "I wonder what Xion wants to tell me?" Hinata wondered.


	14. Chapter 14

Hinata Chronicle Chapter 14: The Plan and the Talk with Head Hyuga

Hinata was walking through the hospital to the main lobby to see Xion with Tsunade with her.

"So. . . You wondering about what Xion wants to talk to you about?" Tsunade asked.

Hinata turned her head and gave her a simple nod. "Of course I am."

At the lobby Hinata see's Xion at a bench near the entrance of the hospital. Hinata goes up to her with a depressed look on her face.

"Hey Xion. . . You wanted t talk to me about something?"

"Yeah. . . I suggest you follow me." Xion said with a serious look on her face. Xion then started to leave the hospital with Hinata quickly following her.

"Umm. . . I'll see you later My Lady." Hinata said to Tsunade.

"Alright, I'll be at my office if you need me." Tsunade said as she watched her leave.

The scenery changes to the top of the "Hokage Monument" Xion was standing at the edge with Hinata a few feet behind. The sky was a bright amber color because the sun was setting.

"So. . . Sasuke gone?" Xion said with a depressed look on her face.

"Mmm. . . Yeah. . . He's gone." Hinata said with a depressed look on her. "I also got some information on Ansem and Nexus." Hinata said with an angry tone in her voice.

"Really? Well lets hear it." Xion said.

Hinata explained everything that Nexus told her about them not coming back for another 2 and a half year, and Nexus's identity of him being her cousin, which shocked her that Hinata had a cousin. She then explained that during the Chunin exam preliminaries before she got her keyblade, she saw that her cousin Neji had a dark aura around him but disappeared after he went unconscious after beating him.

"I see. . . So Ansem must of sensed his darkness, and convinced him into darkness." Xion said. "Damn it Ansem! You actually got yourself basically another Riku!" Xion thought. Xion then turned to Hinata who had a determined look on her face. "I've already had the chance to talk to Jiraiya about your theory, and he told me that he will be taking Naruto on a training journey for 2 and a half years. Hinata , I need to know something from you, this is important!" Xion said with a serious look on her face.

"W-what is it?" Hinata asked

"I'm thinking of taking you on a training journey as well, but unlike Naruto and Jiraiya's journey, we will be going to a different world." Hinata got a surprised look on her face. " I'll have to get the arrangements ready so you have time to tell the others and cut any loose ends." "Hinata I need to know, will you go on this journey with me?" Xion asked. "Don't worry, take your time, remember we will be back."

Hinata started to think, she thought of multiple memories of her time in Konoha, friends, family and most importantly Naruto. After an hour of thinking. . . "Alright. . . I'll go." She said with a determined look on her face.

Xion then gave her a warming smile. "Great, here take this." Xion then held out a hooded black cloak that was similar to her with a pair of black high-heel shoes.

"What's this?" Hinata asked.

"This black coat, will let us pass through the Corridors safely. You don't have to wear it now, but wear it when its time to go. "

"Alright"

"Good, I got to get to Tsunade and tell her about our journey plan, and then I got to go and get the arrangements ready so I guess this is good-bye for now." Xion said as she walked up to Hinata and hugged her.

"Yeah, I'll see you when its time to go." Hinata said with a smile.

Xion then let go Hinata. "Yeah" She said with a smile. She then walked away to go and tell Tsunade everything and go make the preparation. Soon Hinata was alone watching the sun set into dusk. She then toke a deep breath in. "I should settle some "certain" matters." As she left the Hokage Monument.

The scene then changes to Hyuga Compound. Hinata's father, Hiashi is strictly training Hinata's sister Hanabi to the point of exhaustion. "Ok, I'll ease into him, and then I'll tell him everything." Hinata thought. Hinata started to get close to the two with a plate of tea. "Um. . . I brought tea." Hinata announced.

Hiashi and Hanabi then looked towards Hinata's direction, then quickly turned back to Hanabi. "Hanabi. . . Let's take a break." Hiashi said.

"Yes Father." The two then sat down beside Hinata, each taking a glass of tea. Hiashi was staring at Hinata with a look of concern which Hinata rarely see's at her father.

"So I heard your recent mission was a failure." Hiashi said.

Hinata then got a depressed look on her face. "Yeah, Sasuke Uchiha got away. But it only means I have to train harder and harder, and speaking of training. . . I must tell you something."

Hiashi and Hanabi then got a concern look on there face as the turned there heads towards her. "Yes what is it about?" Hiashi asked.

Hinata then toke a deep breath. "Well. . . I know what happened Neji, and it involves that recent enemy I met at the Chunin Exam Finals."

"What do you mean! Does that man and boy of his have something to do with Neji's disappearance!" Hiashi demeaned.

"Well it's a long story so here's what happened. . ." Hinata then explained everything about Nexus being Neji and how he chose to be Ansem apprentice. After Hiashi heard everything from Hinata, he had a guilty look on face. "Don't worry father I'll bring back, I'll get even stronger then before and bring Neji back." Hinata said brimming with confidence, which surprised Hiashi. "There is also something I need to ask you."

"Well then young lady, tell me then what is it?"

"Well. . . Xion has offered me the chance to go on a training journey with her to prepare me for when Ansem and Nexus return, so is it alright if I can go with her?" Hinata asked.

Hiashi stood up and went in front of his daughter with a concern look on his face. "She's gained more confidence in herself, it makes me proud." Hiashi thought. "Hinata. You and Hanabi are members of the main house of the Hyuga clan, therefore you must do what you think is right." Hiashi said.

"So does that mean that. . ?"

"Yes, you can go on that training journey."

"T-thank you father." Hinata said bowing her head. "YES!" Hinata thought.

"As long as you tell me when your leaving of course."

"I'll miss sis." Hanabi said.

Hinata then smiled at her sister. "Don't worry, I'll be fine Hanabi you just concentrate on your training with father." She then turned to her father with a serious look on her face. " Don't worry father I'll bring back Neji no matter what!" She said brimming with confidence. Hinata then started to yawn from exhaustion. "We I'm going to head to bed now, good night."

"Good Night Sis." Hanabi said.

"I'll see you in the morning for some quick training before you go on your journey."


	15. Chapter 15

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 15: Departure and the first day of training

(Time jump to three months after the conversation with Hinata and her father. The day Naruto and Jiraiya leave to go train, also the day Hinata and Xion leave to go train as well.)

Xion is waiting at the village gate for Hinata, Naruto and Jiraiya, she promised Jiraiya that the four would leave at the same time, she then sensed a presence of light coming to her.

"Well it took you long enough." Xion sarcastically said.

Hinata then appeared near Xion in the black-hooded coat that was similar to hers and a backpack on. "Sorry I'm late, father wanted to give me some last minute training before I leave and I had to tell him I was leaving." Hinata explained.

Soon after waiting for a few minutes, Naruto and Jiraiya were at the gate. Naruto was blush at Hinata in the coat she was wearing.

"I. . . um. . .wow Hinata you look *cough* *cough* good." Naruto said blushing and shuddering.

"Oh. . . Um. . Hehe, thank you Naruto." Hinata said smiling. She then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Naruto then chuckled a bit blushing. "Aw it was nothing."

"Alright you two, that's enough of that. You two better take one last look at the village, we're not going to be here for awhile." Jiraiya said.

Naruto then turns around looking at the Hokage Monument, and pulls his fist into the air. "Watch me." he said as he smiles.

Hinata then smiled staring at him, she then turned to the monument and summoned out her keyblade, holding it sideways. "Watch me as well." she said.

"Come on you two, we got to get going." Jiraiya said calling out to them.

"Ok" the two said in unison. The two then caught up with Jiraiya and Xion as the went through the village gate.

The four started to walk for awhile until they were at the border between the Lands of Fire and Wind.

"Well I guess this where we go our separate ways." Xion said.

"Yeah. You two, good luck with training." Jiraiya said.

"Yeah you guy as well, I hope your training goes well." Xion said bowing her head.

"Likewise." Jiraiya said bowing his head back to her. He then looked at Naruto and Hinata, both of them hugging each other, the two then looked at each other passionately before they kissed each other on the lips.

"I'll miss you Naruto." Hinata said.

"Same here." Naruto said. He then let Hinata go. "Well. . . Good luck with your training." Naruto then smiled at Hinata.

Hinata blushed a bit then smiled. "Yeah, I'll see you in two years."

"Yeah!" Naruto said giving her a thumbs up. Hinata then returned the thumbs up with her own thumbs up.

"We better get going." Jiraiya said

"Yeah! To begin my training!" Naruto said.

Jiraiya and Naruto then started to walk away until Xion and Hinata couldn't see them anymore. The wind started to blow and the leaves were moving with the wind.

"Well, its time for us to go as well." Xion said. She then opened a Corridor of Light, Xion then put her hood up. "Let's go."

"Yeah." Hinata said as she put her hood up. The two then walked through the portal as it closed behind them.

The two were silence as they walked through the light, Hinata was following Xion to who knows where. Time passed as it felt like a couple of hour until. . .

"We're here." Xion said as she opened a portal. "Follow me." Xion then started to walk through the portal.

"Ok" Hinata said. She then went through the portal, she then looked back as the portal closed behind her. She then turned back at Xion and she was amazed at what she saw. There was a crooked, golden-brown tower, the sky looked as if it was always twilight but she was still was able to see the stars in the sky. "Wow! So this is what the outside worlds look like, its so beautiful."

"Welcome to the Mysterious Tower." Xion said as she took of her hood. Xion then started to walk towards the tower. "Come on, our master awaits."

"Master?" Hinata asked as she took of her hood.

"Yeah, this man was a retired Keyblade master. During the last three months in your world, I came here earlier and asked him to train us to strengthen our skills in using the keyblade. He also altered his world so that time flows the same as your world."

"Oh, Ok that explains where you were."

"Come on, we better go see him." Xion said as she ran towards the tower

"Umm. . . Ok!" Hinata said catching up to her easily with her sending chakra to her feet.

"Hey, that now fair." Xion jokingly said.

"Aw don't be a sore loser!" Hinata jokingly said as she got to the doors of the tower.

Xion and Hinata then looked at the tower and Hinata was amazed how tall it was. "Alright, now just go into the tower and get to the top. Hmm!" Xion said as she then sensed a presence.

"What is it!" Hinata asked.

"We've got company!" Xion then drew out her keyblade and got into her battle stance. Out on the field they just passed, at least 30 little black creatures with round, spherical heads with circular, glowing yellow eyes, and two antennas coming out of there heads were coming out of the ground. "Heartless!"

"Well I guess training won't be as easy as we thought it was." Hinata said sarcastically.

"Yeah! Xion said. The two then rushed into the horde of heartless, destroying them in a matter of seconds. The two were then standing in the middle of the field where they were fighting looking as if they didn't even break a sweat.

"Whew that was too easy!" Xion said.

"Yes it was." Hinata said as she look at the tower. "So. . . Time to go see this new master me and Xion will be training under." Hinata thought as she walked back towards the tower.

Xion saw Hinata calmly walk towards the tower and went to catch up with her. Hinata then opened the door and went inside where she saw a set of stairs.

"Lets go." Hinata said as she started to go up the stairs.

"Alright" Xion said.

As the two were going through the tower, Hinata started to wonder about something. "Hey Xion, there's been something I had to ask you about."

"Hmm. . . Yeah what is it?" Xion said.

"I was just wondering, how did you meet this guy we'll be training with?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, I never did mention how I met our-soon-to-be trainer. Well its interesting really, while I was in the organization , during one of my missions I completed to gather hearts, on the way back to the castle something strange happened while I was in the Corridor of Darkness."

"What happened?" Hinata asked.

"Strangely I saw a strange light and the next thing I knew, I passed out. The next thing I knew I was at this tower, I tried to go back but for some reason I couldn't open a portal. Eventually, I met Yen Sid and he warned me about Organization XIII, he then told my about the Inheritance Ceremony."

"Inheritance Ceremony?"

"Yeah, he told me I would be able to pass the power to use the keyblade somehow knowing I had the power of light, after that he opened a portal back to the castle telling me not to tell them about our encounter. Soon afterwards, I ended up in your world and did the Inheritance Ceremony with you."

"So then that saying you said when I was a little girl-"

"Yes, that was the Inheritance Ceremony to pass the power of the keyblade to another."

"Well, I guess I should properly umm. . . Yen Sid was it?"

"Yeah, he was a retired Keyblade Master, and the one who be training us."

"Well, It'll be honored to be trained by him."

"Yeah."

The two then rushed up the stairs until they were in front of the door to Yen Sid's chamber when the two heard voices on the other side.

"Hmm. . . Who's that? Was Yen Sid expecting guest?" Xion thought.

Xion then put her ear to the door, wondering who Yen Sid was talking to, Hinata on the other hand activated her Byakugan to look through the door. On the other side of the door, she saw a few figures, three of them looked human but the other three looked like animals, Hinata then recognized five of them from Xion's memories.

"Xion! I recognize them! Its-" Hinata whispered

"Quiet! I'm trying to listen!" Xion whispered back.

(On the other side of the door)

"Master Xehanort was a prodigious Keyblade Master." Yen Sid explained. "Because of his unparallel skills he had many troubles. What is a heart, that it even controls the power of man? This question lead to the Keyblade War. From the midst of the old tale of the battle between light and darkness, he tried to seek out the essence of the light and dark that resides in the heart. Rather than choose his duty as a master, he chose to go on a journey of pursuit."

(Back with Hinata and Xion)

"Hmm. . . I wonder what this about?" Hinata whispered

"I don't know, Xehanort. . . A Keyblade Master?" Xion muttered.

(Back with Yen Sid)

"Sore and Riku, I would like you to participate in the Keyblade Master Exam

(Back with Hinata and Xion)

"That's sounds like a big honor doesn't it?" Xion whispered.

Hinata nodded her head in agreement.

(Back with Yen Sid)

"To become Keyblade Masters, you two must learn the right way to use a Keyblade. So you two will forget the things you learned and start over from the beginning."

"WHA!" Everyone exclaimed

"You don't need to do that. I'm not going to lose to anyone. And plus, King Mickey and Riku are all here. Right, Riku?" Sora said as he turned to his friend.

"I. . ." Riku started to say as he then brought his hand up and summoned his Soul Eater blade. "Darkness still lurks within my heart." He then summoned it away. "I who walk the path of darkness , am I really fit to use a Keyblade. . .? I need to be sure."

"Riku. . ." Sora said.

(Back with Hinata and Xion)

The two look at each other as they then looked back and listened.

(Back with Yen Sid)

"Well then, let us start Sora and Riku's Keyblade Mastery Exam." Yen Sid then explained some of the trails that they would have to face.

(Back with Hinata and Xion)

"Looks like they got a lot to do huh?" Hinata whispered.

"Yeah." Xion nodded in agreement.

A light began glow through the sides of the door, Hinata looking through the door had to cover her eyes because of a blinding light on the other side, soon all was silent. Hinata look through the door again and saw that Yen Sid, Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy on the other side but Sora and Riku were gone.

"Should we enter Xion?" Hinata asked putting her hood back up.

"Yeah I think whatever is in there is done." Xion said also putting her .

Hinata then went and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Yen Sid said.

"Yen Sid who's that?" Mickey asked with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, were you expect other guest?" Goofy asked.

"Its alright, they're friends. Mickey you've might have seen one of these two before."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mickey asked with a surprised but confused look on his face.

Hinata and Xion entered the room in the familiar coats which surprised Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Mickey then summoned his keyblade: a golden blade with a silver guard with a gold charm that look like Mickey's head. Mickey then jump towards Xion when she quickly summoned her keyblade: an inverse of Mickey's and blocked his attack, Mickey then flipped backward to Donald and Goofy, surprised at her keyblade. "W-where did you get that!" Mickey asked.

"It looks likes Sora's keyblade!" Donald exclaimed.

Xion then put her keyblade away, and went to Yen Sid. "It's been awhile Master." Xion said bowing head.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy all just stood there with a confused look on there faces.

Xion then stopped bowing her head and took off her hood, which surprised Mickey caused he remembered seeing her in Jiminy's Journal as one of the ties to Sora.

Yen Sid then looked behind Xion and see's Hinata still with her hood up. "Ah, so you're the girl Xion did the Inheritance Ceremony to. It is nice to meet Hinata."

Hinata then took of her hood. "Likewise, I'm guessing Xion told you about me?" Hinata said bowing her head for.

"Ah, the Byakugan, its been awhile since the last time I saw it." Yen Sid said.

Hinata was surprised at what Yen Sid said. "Y-you know about my clan's eyes!" Hinata asked.

"Yes, you see I once visit your world." Yen Sid explained.

This surprised everyone in the mainly Hinata.

"Umm can someone explain what's going on here?" Mickey asked.

"I will!" Xion said.

After a brief explanation.

". . .and that's what happened." Xion said.

"Hmm. . . I see, so Ansem the leader of the Heartless is back, got a replacement for Riku, and said he won't be back in Hinata's world for two and a half years. So during that time you two came here to get training from Yen Sid." Mickey said.

"Yes, he attacked our world, hurt my friends, and created a new threat to our world, I'll stop him matter what!" Hinata said.

Mickey smiled at what Hinata said. "I sense a heart filled with light, guess Xion made the right choice of choosing you." Mickey said.

"Thank you." Hinata said.

"If it's alright, I would like to help you with our training of it's alright?" Mickey asked.

"Sure! We would be honored for the help. You guys still have to wait for Sora and Riku to get back so you can help us for now."

The group then nodded their heads as they turned to Yen Sid.

"We shall begin our training now, I hope your prepare!" Yen Sid said.

"Yes Master!" Xion and Hinata said in unison.

Hinata then changed into her normal clothes by using magic. "All set." Hinata said.

"Then let the training commence!" Yen Sid said.


	16. Chapter 16

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 16: Yen Sid's Explanation and Battle with The Savage Nymph

(Time jump to 2 years and 175 day, a week before Hinata and Xion decide to return to Hinata's world.)

Hinata and Xion both went through rough training with Yen Sid, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, there usual training routine was wake up at around 4 in the morning for sparing with each other till 8 o'clock, then they ate breakfast, then Yen Sid's daily lesson at 9 o'clock that lasted till 5 in the afternoon but only a break for lunch at noon, soon at 6 o'clock the twos training for the day ends, but Hinata decides to train her Taijustsu until 8 o'clock at night while Xion watches, the two then end the day sitting on top of the tower both having an ice cream. The two have developed a sisterly bond between each other.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy were called back to "Disney Castle" for a note that arrived for him as he quickly left with Donald and Goofy following him before a quick good bye from Hinata and Xion.

Hinata and Xion have both changed in appearance drastically. Hinata let her hair grow out to her waist with cut straight bangs that hang over her forehead, she also now has quiet a pair of breast that are almost as big as Tsunade and has a womanly figure, her outfit is now a cream long sleeve undershirt with her right sleeve having a yin-yang symbol, a dark lavender short sleeve zipper sweatshirt, she still wears the belt with the Konoha symbol, darkish violet-blue pants that go half way down her shins and that have her ninja pouch attached to it, and a similar pair of shoe she wore before but now fit. Xion let her hair grow out but not as much as Hinata's cause she does cut it sometimes, she also has a set of breast that are only half the size of Hinata's breast, she now wears a no-sleeved hoodless version of the Organization cloak that only goes half way to her upper knees, a belt with a key symbol, wears black and white checker gloves that go half way up to the elbow, under the lower part of her cloak are white stockings on her legs which reach to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs, and on her feet are a pair of white shoe. The clothes the two have were made by the three fairies: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, so the clothing have the same properties as the Organization cloaks and some extra properties that they wanted them to find out.

The two are on the roof of the tower, both having ice-cream.

"Man. . .We've been here for quiet a while." Xion said.

"Yeah, I feels like just yesterday when we just got here. Time sure does fly." Hinata said smiling. Hinata and Xion then started to laugh as they stared at the night sky filled with stars.

"So. . . In a week, we go back to your world, are you excited?"

"Of course I am! I can't wait to see everyone. Although I do somehow expect to be tested when we get."

"Tested? For what?"

"Maybe for my future status as a ninja, I don't know." Hinata said as she started to yawn. "Well I'm going to go to bed, goodnight."

Hinata then headed to the special area where Yen Sid told them they could stay, when she got there she was too tired to change so she just feel right on to her bed. Xion then later came in after Hinata fell asleep. The next morning. . .

"Hinata, Xion. I need to talk to you. . . Its time." Yen Sid said.

"Mmm. . . huh. . . Time? For what?" Hinata asked.

"I'll explain, but first both of you take a shower, no offense but you two are starting to stink a bit."

Xion started to yawn as she woke up. "Well, we better see what Yen Sid wants."

Hinata then yawned as well. "Yeah."

After the two each had a quick shower, they got dressed and met Yen Sid in the main chamber, who was sitting in his usual chair. "Good you two are."

"Yes master." Hinata said.

"You had something you wanted to talk to us about?" Xion asked.

"Yes, it's about something I should tell you about." Yen Sid then turned his head towards Hinata. " Its about some secrets of your world."

Hinata was surprised at him saying this. She knew that Yen Sid had been to her world once, but she never got the chance to ask him why. "W-what secrets?"

"Terrible secrets, truths that you should know about your world. Mainly two certain incidents."

"Which two? Cause our world had many different things happen to it." Hinata said.

"The first one was where your village was attacked by a giant beast, and second was the truth behind a certain massacre."

Hinata's eye began to widen. "T-the Nine tailed Fox attack and The Uchiha Massacre! Y-you were there for those incidents!"

"Yes. . . I was there, but invisible to everyone, I used a spell on myself so that no one could see me. When I first visit on October 10th , I sensed a powerful presence near by so I went to check the area."

Hinata then remember that date and how it was Naruto's birthday, she realized where this was going. "Something else was happening on that night didn't it?" Hinata asked in a serious tone.

"Yes, it was day your friend was born. There were many people there to help with the birth including your village's fourth. I watched his mother, a beautiful red headed woman give birth to your friend but she was in terrible pain."

"Why was that?" Xion asked.

"Well she was in terrible pain because I learned that she used to have that fox demon, she did successfully gave birth to a blonde haired baby boy that looked like the blonde haired man, that when I realized that he was the husband."

Hinata was completely surprised. "Y-you mean Naruto's father was-"

"Yes his father was the 4th Hokage. But as soon as the birth was finished something terrible happened." Yen Sid said as he closed his eye

"What do you mean! What happened!" Hinata asked getting worried.

"After the birth was finished well. . . A masked man came and killed some of the people that were there at the birth, he then kidnapped the new born and put a knife to his throat."

Hinata then got a look of horror on her face.

"The masked man wanted one thing. . . The fox demon to be free. The seal on his mother weakening. His father tried to negotiate with the man, soon the masked man was going to stab your friend. But his father was able to save him, unfortunately there were explosive tags on the wrapping so he had to warp himself and his son but left his mother behind."

Hinata then sighed with relief that Naruto was ok.

"But it doesn't end there. I found out that man's name and-"

"What was it!" Hinata asked interrupting her master's story.

"His name was. . . Madara Uchiha."

Hinata then got a look of fear on her face. "B-but t-that's impossible! He was one of the village founders and he was supposed to be dead."

"Hmm. . . I'll have to ponder about this. Anyway Madara eventually released the fox demon and use his Sharingan to control it and commanded the fox to attack your village. The 4th was able to your friend's mother and left her with him while the 4th went to stop Madara."

"I think I get it from there, the 4th Hokage eventually stopped Madara and then seal the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of Naruto. Right?"

"Correct, but something else also happened."

"What do you mean?" Xion asked.

"Naruto's parents Minato and Kushina, used a seal that did seal the fox demon in Naruto, but also sealed part of themselves in him as well, that way the two could eventually meet there son as a young man, and tell them about Madara and his plan to rule your world."

Hinata started cry but with a smile on her face. "Wow. . . It seems that Naruto, even though he was hated because of the demon inside, at least I know that he was once loved before he had the fox inside him."

Xion then smiled at Hinata, agreeing with what she said. "But what happened to Madara?"

"Hard to say, but I think he is acting as another person to freely move around without anyone knowing."

"Can you at least show us what he looks like?" Xion asked.

"Yes, it will be good for to know what he looks like if you encounter him." Yen Sid then used his magic to create a projection of what he thinks Madara currently looks like: short hair, wearing an orange spiral mask that covers his left eye also wearing a black long-sleeve top that also covers his neck and chin, a pair of black gloves, and a pair of dark blueish/black pants, and shoes, but the most distinctive feature about him was his mask which revealed a Sharingan.

"Hmm. . . So you think this is what Madara will currently looks like huh?" Xion asked.

"Yes, but you two must be careful when you encounter him. I must tell you now about the truth of Uchiha Massacre." Yen Sid said.

Hinata and Xion a turned to Yen Sid, Hinata with a look of concern, and Xion with a serious look on her face. "The truth?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, the real reason why the entire clan was destroyed." Yen Sid said.

"Well, nothing can really surprise me now so explain away." Xion said.

"Alright. During another visit, a couple of years after the fox demon attack, The Uchiha clan was planning a coup d'état so the village sent in a spy, the older brother of your former friend Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, the 3rd was planning to open negotiations with them, but the Konoha council and a man named Danzō Shimura, went behind the 3rd Hokage's back were planning the entire assassination of the entire clan ordering Itachi to do it."

Hinata and Xion both got a surprised on there face.

"Eventually he slaughtered the entire clan because he didn't want the Uchiha clan to revolt and start another war in your world. Unfortunately, he defied his orders to kill everyone by not killing his brother. Soon after, he asked the 3rd to protect his brother, and threatened Danzō and the council not to touch Sasuke or he would tell the village the truth. Soon Itachi left the village. This is all the information I have to tell you."

Hinata and Xion were completely surprised about everything.

"I-I can't believe this. . . If all this is true about the massacre, then the reason Sasuke left the village, was to gain power so he could kill Itachi!" Hinata said.

"Man, just think what will happen if Sasuke finds out truth." Xion said shaking in fear.

"Don't worry you two, I believe you'll be able to handle anything. Which brings me to the real reason why called you two hear."

"What is it?" Hinata asked.

"Master Yen Sid?" Xion asked.

"I believe it is time for the two of you to take "The Mark Of Mastery" exam to become Keyblade Masters."

Hinata gasped at what he said. "A-are you sure? I mean I-its an honor that you think we should take it but why?"

"What are we going to have to do? The same thing as Sora and Riku are going through?" Xion asked.

"No no no, your not going to do that. Your test will be different, your test will first involve you two going to "Radiant Garden", after you get there you must find the "Garden of Assemblage." There you will find powerful data opponents."

"Who are these powerful data opponents?" Xion asked.

"They are data replicas of the members of Organization XIII. Xemnas created it for unknown reason. Sora already went there and beat all of them and open a easy passage to get there. Your test for the "Mark Of Mastery" is for each of you to defeat one of the data replicas. I doesn't matter which one you choose, as long as you defeat it and obtain the item you get from beating them, which is different for each member and bring it back here, then I will consider you masters. You can also work together for this exam."

"Alright, I guess I got nothing to lose." Xion said confidently

"Yeah, this will be a good time to test my abilities." Hinata said.

"Good, Xion you will be in charge of transportation for the two of you. You already know where to go, so let the examination begin." Yen Sid announced.

Xion then opened a corridor of Light. "Let's go. See you later Master." she said as she went through the corridor.

Hinata bowed her head. "Thank you for training us." she said as she went through the corridor, the corridor then closed behind them.

The two began to walk through the corridor as this time it only seemed like an hour went by, soon enough the two were at "Radiant Garden". The area where the two ended up was what looked like a market place filled with multiple shops.

"Hmm. . . Another new world." Hinata said looking at the ruined castle.

"Yup." Xion said as she looked at the market place. "I guess we should find the Garden."

"Yeah"

The two began to walk around town passing through the market, Xion the went to a nearby moogle.

"Xion, what are you doing?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, just making some items that will be helpful for us." Xion explained.

"Like what?" Hinata asked.

"Like these." Xion held in her hands a Cosmic Chain, a violet Ribbon ,a "Dying of the Light" ring, and "Tears of Flame" ring. "These will help us when we fight the data Organization members. Here, I'll take the rings and you take the ribbon and chain. To even us out."

"Why thank you." Hinata said taking the Cosmic Chain and the Ribbon. "So what do these do exactly?" Hinata asked.

"Well the moogle says they will make it so we're more resistant to certain elemental attacks." Xion said.

"Well I hope that they work." Hinata said attaching the chain on her pant and the Ribbon in the inside of her sweater.

"Yeah, I used a lot of synthesizing materials to make them so they should work." Xion said putting the rings on her fingers. "Well we better get going."

"Yeah. To the garden." Hinata said confidently.

The two then walk through the Borough, and was pass the Bailey. Hinata was surprised at what look like a major battle was here mainly cause the entire area was a massive hole leading into a valley, but the two went the other way up to the ruined castle, the two then have to trudge up a long hill.

"Oh boy. Up there right?" Hinata asked sarcastically.

"Yup, but it seems like it will be awhile till we get up!" Xion said getting in to battle stance.

Suddenly multiple heartless appeared along the trail, blocking the path.

"Well, I knew this would be easy, but this is ridiculous!" Hinata said as she got into her battle stance.

"Yeah." Xion said. The two then charged in to the heartless, slashing through without letting them getting the chance to fight back, releasing the hearts each of them had. Before they knew it, Xion found the entrance to the garden that was only half way up the hill.

"Well. . . Were here." Xion said looking at the wall.

"Hmm. . . What do mean? Its just a wall." Hinata said.

Xion then went into the wall passing through, surprising Hinata. Xion then put half her body back on the outside the fake wall. "Its only an hologram to trick people." Xion explained smiling. "Come on."

Hinata quickly went through the wall following Xion to a large garden where the water was strangely flowing upward, the garden itself also had what looked like 13 portal that each had a different weapon representing it.

"So. . . This is the Garden of Assemblage." Hinata said.

"Hmm? Yeah." Xion distractingly said.

"Xion, are you alright?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, sort of." Xion said distractingly again. She was to busy looking at the garden herself, she recognized the weapons each portal had but the weapons that mainly caught her eye were only two of the thirteen, one had two keyblades on it and the other had a pair of chakrams. She recognized easily who they belong to. "Roxas. . . Axel. . . I'm so sorry." Xion whispered as she silently cried. She then wiped away the tears and put a serious look on her face. "Alright, so Hinata who do you want take on?"

"Well I know I'm not going to take on the leader, so he's out of the question." Hinata said. "Xion you remember being in the Organization, do you know which ones were the strongest?" Hinata asked.

"Well let's see, when I was still with Sora, I remember him having a tough time with Xigbar: the number 2 member, Xaldin: the number 3 member, Saïx: the number 7 member, Demyx: the number 9 member, and Luxford: the number 10 member. Members numbers 4, 5, 6, 11 and 12, I really didn't know, I never even got there names. But there's one thing I want to make clear." Xion said seriously .

"What that?" Hinata asked with concern.

"I'm going to fight either Member Numbers 8 or 13. I don't want you choosing one of them." Xion demand.

"But why? Are sure it-" Hinata was about to said, she then remembered the memories she showed of her friend during her time in the Organization. "Its them isn't it? Axel and Roxas right?" Hinata asked in a serious tone of voice.

"Yeah its them." Xion said.

"I understand, you want to confront your pass guilt, but you don't have to face it alone. I want to help you because you're my friend and friends do that for each other." Hinata said smiling.

Xion then started to tear at the eyes and smile. "Thank you Hinata, you're a good friend." Xion then gave Hinata a quick friendly hug. "So have you decided to go against? Xion asked.

Hinata then looked at the portals, until she saw the portal with what looked like a set of kunai. She and Xion then started to walk towards the portal. "I don't know why exactly but I feel as though this is the right enemy for." Hinata thought

"Let me guess? A feeling that you have to fight this one?" Xion asked

Hinata was surprised at what she said. "H-how did you that?"

"I really don't know, maybe it was your instincts telling you to this one." Xion explained

"Instincts huh? Well maybe I should listen to them." Hinata said smiling.

"Good luck!" Xion said cheering her on.

"Yeah." Hinata said as she walked through the portal, she then appeared in a room with white pillars, a white floor and the surrounding look like a mixture of a dark red, blue and purple. Suddenly across from her, lots of data appeared in the form of multiple number, as soon as the data cleared a woman appeared, she was wears the normal Organization black coat and gloves, but her black boots are more feminine and are heeled. Her bright, blonde hair was slicked back and about jaw-length, with two long strands styled into distinctive antennae-like strands, and green eyes. "So there was another girl besides Xion in the Organization." Hinata sarcastically said as she got into her battle stance.

Hinata charges forward with Keyblade, but Larxene teleports away giggling.

"Teleporting!" Hinata said surprised.

As soon as she reappears, she throws her knives at Hinata still laughing. One connects and gives her a strong jolt of electricity.

"Gah! Ok that hurt!" Hinata said sarcastically. "So she has the power of lighting on her side. I better think this through. Hinata quickly thought

Hinata recovers in time to parry a direct attack from Larxene. Larxene teleports again and tries to attack Hinata with her throwing knives again, but Hinata anticipates this and performs her Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique. The technique startles Larxene enough so that Hinata can follow up with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique, making sure to target Larxene's vital chakra points to incapacitate her.

"I hope that takes her down!" Hinata thought panting.

Larxene laughing however, creates a big ball of lightning to assault Hinata with.

"I guess then its time for my new technique!" Hinata thought. Hinata then gambles and infuses her chakra in the Keyblade. "Now! Lions Raid!" She then throws her Keyblade at the ball of lightning, her chakra forming a lion-like barrier around the Keyblade, Hinata was able to hear the roar of a lion. The ball dissipates, leaving Larxene amazed at the fact that her ultimate technique was thwarted. This offers Hinata enough time to successfully execute the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique. "This is the end of you!" Hinata said as she charged into Larxene.

Larxene then quickly then teleported again to the center of the room, and started to charge herself with electricity. Hinata quickly realized that something big was coming and she climbed up one of the pillars using her ninja abilities. Larxene then released all the energy, and began spinning with firing long columns of lightning spheres from her arms in a straight line, all while doing her sinister laughing which started to annoy Hinata.

When Larxene was finished with her attack Hinata quickly air dashed off the pillar and started to land multiple blows in on Larxene leaving her in a bending down position, Hinata then flipped backward on to the ground panting. "Is. . . It. . . Over?" Hinata asked panting.

Larxene then got up again and went into the normal standing position she was in when she first appeared. "Dang she still wants to go at it! Well at least thanks to this Cosmic Chain and Ribbon, they somehow made it so that her attacks didn't hurt as much as I thought they would." Hinata thought getting into her battle stance again. Larxene just stood there like she was frozen when suddenly she disappeared in the form of data which surprised Hinata. "I guess this means I won?" Hinata asked with a confused look on her face. Suddenly a light appeared that was so bright that Hinata had to cover her eyes.

"Hinata! Hey Hinata!" a voice said.

"Hmm? Whose there?" Hinata asked as she started to uncover her eyes. Hinata realized that she was laying on the floor outside the portal with Xion looking down on her smiling. "Hey Xion." she said smiling as she started to get on to her feet. "Hmm. . . What's this?" She said realizing she had something in her hand.


	17. Chapter 17

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 17: Xion's Fight with the Key of Destiny

Hinata was look at the beautiful purple wings looking crystal known as a "Lost Illusion" that she obtained from defeating the data replica of Larxene, the two decide to take a quick break and do some research on the computer at the center of the garden.

"Hey Hinata, you better come take a look at this!" Xion said sounded worried.

"Coming!" Hinata said. She then put the "Lost Illusion" in her pocket and went over to Xion. "What's up?" She asked.

"Well I was looking at some data, unfortunately it shows that both the battles for Axel and Roxas are single-person only. . . So it means we both can't go in. . . sorry."

"Its alright. . . Anyway I will wish you good luck from out here." Hinata said smiling. "So have you chose who your going to fight."

Xion then got off the computer and looked at the portals, then closed her eyes smiling. "I have." She then reopened her eyes looking at the data Roxas's portal. "Be ready Roxas." Xion thought.

Hinata just stood there looking at her as she went up to the portal, when she was in front of the portal she turned and look at Hinata and gave her a thumbs up. Hinata then gave a thumbs up back at Xion. "Take him down." She said smiling at her.

"Yeah" Xion said smiling back. "I really hope I can." She thought as she walked through the portal. She appears on a blue tinted stain-glass area that had Sora and his friends on it. "So this is our arena." Xion thought as she got into her battle stance. Soon lots of data appeared in the form of multiple number, as soon as the data cleared a hooded boy wielding two familiar Keyblades "Oathkeeper and Oblivion". Xion then started to tear at the eyes a bit before she quickly cleaned them off. "Well. . . This is it. Get ready. . . Roxas." Xion thought. Xion and Roxas charged each other. "Fast!" Xion said. After a few strikes, Xion decides to execute Sonic Raid, but Roxas easily dodges it. "Hmm. . . data or not, Roxas is the same as he ever was." Xion thought. Roxas then hurls his Oblivion Keyblade as a Strike Raid while charging his Oathkeeper for Ars Arcanum. "Oh boy!" Xion thought. She then quickly reflect to eliminate the Oblivion's threat, then prepares a Ragnarok of her own. "Take this!" Xion cried out. As the two attacks collide, Roxas and Xion both grow out of breath. "Gotta. . . End. . . This. . . quick!" Xion said panting. She then activated her Limit Break, Event Horizon, and tries to overwhelm Roxas with her speed. Before she could land a killing strike, though, Roxas uses a Spin Swing to knock Xion's Keyblade out of her hand. When she goes to get it, Roxas fires Ars Arcanum at the Keyblade destroying it. Xion stood there wide-eyed at what just happened. "No. . .no. . . no! T-this can't be happening! M-my Keyblade! Destroyed!" Xion thought. Xion then tried to resummon her keyblade but nothing happened. "It's gone. . .its really gone!" Xion said tearing at the eyes kneeling down on the ground. The data Roxas then came over to Xion and put the Oblivion Keyblade to her face getting ready to deliver the final blow. "Well. . . I guess this is the end of me. . . Sorry Hinata. . . Looks like I'm not coming back." Xion thought closing her tearing eye awaiting for her fate. The data Roxas was about to deliver the finishing blow when suddenly. . .

"Don't worry. . . You'll do fine." a familiar voice out of nowhere said.

"What!" Xion said. A bright flash of light appeared blinding everyone causing them to cover there eyes. When Xion reopened her eyes, she realized that she was floating in mid-air surrounded by light. "Hmm. . . What's all this?" Xion asked with a dazed look on her face. Suddenly in front of her appeared a couple of people, two of them she remember in the same Organization cloaks, the third had the same face as one of them but wore a strange outfit where half his shirt was black like Sora's and the other half was white like Roxas's, he also had what looked like a metal shoulder pad on him. "Roxas, Axel." Xion said tearing at the eyes smiling at them.

"It's good to see you again Xion." Roxas said.

"Hey there Xion" Axel said.

"B-but how is this possible?" Xion asked turning to the Roxas look-alike. "And who are you? Why do you look like Roxas?"

"The real question should be "Why does Roxas look like me?"" Ventus said.

"Hmm. . . What do you mean?" Xion asked.

"Alright, let's start from the beginning. My name's Ventus, but just call me Ven." Ventus explained.

"Ven. . . Ok then answer your own question, "Why does Roxas look like you?""

"Ok. . .this is difficult to explain but here it goes." Ventus then turned to Roxas. "Do you know the source about how your able to dual-wield keyblades?"

Roxas thought for a moment. "Actually, no I really never thought about it. I know that one of the keyblades is Sora's but the other, I don't know, I just always thought it was my own."

"Yeah, you beat me up real good with those blades of yours." Axel sarcastically said.

Everyone quickly giggled at what Axel said before getting serious again. "Anyway, the truth is. . . Well. . . That second keyblade you wield was actually my keyblade." Ventus said.

Roxas gasped at what he said.

"Hmm. . . Well that explains some things." Axel said. "But why do you look like Roxas?"

". . . Because I'm the reason for both Roxas's appearance and Sora's ability to use the keyblade."

Everyone then gasped at what he said, but before Ventus could explain any father he begins to fade away.

"Wait Ventus!" Xion said.

Ventus stood there smiling. "Like I said before, don't worry you'll do fine. I'll you all again. . . Someday." He then disappeared fading into the light.

The three stood there surprised at what he said.

"So. . . He was our origin. . . Xion." Roxas said.

"Yeah." Xion said turning to Roxas and Axel. "Listen. . . I. . ."

Roxas turned to her and smiled at her. "Its alright. . . It wasn't your fault. . . It was the Organization's."

"Yeah Xion, don't be so hard on yourself." Axel said.

"B-but it's all my fault. The destruction of friendship, me taking your memories, everything!" Xion said starting to cry.

Roxas then over to Xion and gave her a clean slap on the face followed by a hug. "Its alright."

"Yeah Xion, you can't let a couple of mistake ruin a friendship. Got it memorized?" Axel said sarcastically. Suddenly the three realized that Axel was starting to fade away. Axel then just stood there chuckling a bit. "Well I guess it's time for me to go. . . See ya."

"Yeah. . . We'll see you later." Xion said.

"Let meet again." Roxas said.

"It's a promise." Axel said as he started to disappear into light.

Now only Roxas and Xion were alone in the endless light, suspended in mid-air, the two were silent for what seemed like an hour until. . .

"Xion?" Roxas said.

"Yeah?" Xion replied.

Roxas then went whisper something into Xion's ear, and as soon as Roxas stepped back a bit, he noticed that Xion was blushing in the face.

"D-do you really mean that!" Xion asked.

"Yeah." Roxas calmly said. "Beside you being one of my best friends while I was in the Organization, you care for me while I was unconscious for 3 weeks and-"

Before Roxas could continue, Xion hugged Roxas tightly and kissed him on the lips.

"I love you too. . . Roxas." Xion said blushing.

Roxas smiled at Xion, he then realized he is starting to fade away. "Hmm. . . I guess it's time for me to go." Roxas said letting go of Xion.

Xion then started to tear at the eyes. "Yeah. . . I'll see you again, right?" Xion asked.

"Of course!" Roxas said giving her a thumbs up. "Beat that data copy of me, ok?" Roxas said jokingly

"Deal." Xion said. Roxas then soon fade away into the light.

"Funny. . . I feel. . . Happy." Xion thought. "It feels like my all my trouble are gone." Suddenly a new keyblade started to form in her hands, a light blue keyblade with a slightly dark blue handle where the end of the blade was different from her original blade. "Hmm?" Xion thought as she realized she had the keyblade in her hands, she then looked at her blade and smiled. "Well. . . I guess I'm not out yet." Xion then re-appeared at where she was at the time when the data Roxas was about to deliver the final blow. "Not this time!" Xion thought blocking his attack. The data Roxas then flipped backwards away from Xion as she was standing up. "Its time to end this!" Xion said. The data Roxas, in desperation, activates his Limit Break and tries to overwhelm Xion. "Face the power of my light!" Xion cried out. Xion then used Trinity Limit, covering and bathing Roxas in an overwhelming light until he was in a bent-down position. Xion stood there panting out of breath. "I. . . did. . . It." Xion said as she fainted. A bright light appeared after the data Roxas disappeared.

"Xion! Xion!" a voice cried out.

"Mmm. . ." Xion grunted.

"Let me heal your wounds, Heal!" the voice said.

Xion felt her wound going away and she slowly opened her eyes.

"That's a relief! You finally woke up." the voice revealing to be Hinata.

"Yeah. . . I'm really tired." Xion said as she yawned. "Hmm?" Xion thought realizing that she had something in her hand, she opened her revealing what looked like a blue crystal tear drop.

"I guess this means we can go back to Master Yen Sid's place?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah." Xion said standing up. She then opened a corridor of light. "Time to go." Xion said as she walked into the portal.

"Mmm hmm" Hinata said following her as the portal closed behind her.

Once again the two began to walk through the corridor as this time it only seemed like an hour went by, soon enough they returned to the base of "The Mysterious Tower".

"Back here again." Hinata said.

"Yeah, come on! We got to go and tell Yen Sid we were successful with our exams." Xion said happily as she ran towards the tower.

"Oh, coming!" Hinata said catching up to her. "Hmm. . . She seems much happier for some reason." Hinata thought.

The two ran up the stairs and got right in front of the door to Yen Sid's chamber, Xion decided to knock on the door before they went in.

"Come in." Yen Sid said. Hinata and Xion then entered yen Sid's chamber and they saw that he had a smile on his face. "I take it that it went well?" Yen Sid asked.

The two just stood there giving a simple node of the head.

"Excellent. . . Hinata can you leave for a minute? I need to speak to Xion." Yen Sid said.

"Yes master." Hinata said. She then left the room and went back outside. "Hmm. . . I wonder what they're talking about?" Hinata wondered.

(Back in Yen Sid's Chamber)

"I take it you understand the true meaning of your exam?" Yen Sid asked.

"I think so." Xion said. She then summoned out her new keyblade, but strangely Yen Sid wasn't surprised but happy at her new keyblade like he expected her to get it.

"Besides the Mark of Mastery, what else was this for?" Xion asked in a serious tone of voice.

"Yes. . . You see Hinata test was for her to see if she could take down a powerful opponent to conquer her fear which she did, but for your test it was to conquer your past guilty conscious." Yen Sid explained.

"So you knew that I would either face Roxas or Axel." Xion replied.

"Yes, I had the feeling you would want to face one of them, and I was right. Congratulations you and Hinata have become true Keyblade Masters. Now go! You two must return to Hinata's world and stop the threat there." Yen Sid said.

"Yes Master and thank you." Xion said bowing her head. The two then heard a knock on the door.

"Come in Hinata." Yen Sid said.

Hinata then came in with a cheerful look on her face. "Hehe Yeah. . . I over heard you guys talking and would like to say thank you, to the both of you. Xion, if it wasn't for you I would have never gained confidence in myself and for those around me, and Yen Sid if it wasn't for you, I would have never grown into the women I am right now. Once again thank you both." Hinata then bowed her head.

"Your welcome. . . Now it is time for you to go home, many challenges await you when you go home, are you ready?" Yen Sid asked.

"Yes Yen Sid, I'm ready." Hinata said with confidence.

"Good now go! Free your world from the darkness, Master Hinata. . . Master Xion." Yen Sid said.

"Yes!" The two said in unison. Hinata and Xion then went through the door and went down the stairs.

"We did it!" Hinata calmly. "Our rigorous training is complete."

"Yeah, we went through many hardships but it was all worth it." Xion said smiling.

The two then exited the tower where they both took one last look at it. Xion then opened a Corridor of Light and the two entered through it.


	18. Chapter 18

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 18: Return to Konoha

Hinata and Xion were walking silently through the Corridor of Light which once again felt like a couple of hours went by as the two were returning to Hinata's world.

"I wonder how much everyone has changed?" Hinata suddenly said out of the blue.

"Who knows? Its been two and a half years, there maybe some drastic changes. But like I said, who knows?" Xion explained.

"Yeah." Hinata said. "We won't know what will happens until it happens."

The two were silent again for the remainder of the time until Xion opened a portal revealing through it being Hinata's world, in the distance that looked like a couple of miles away was her village of Konoha.

"Lets go." Xion said.

"Wait Xion, before we go there is something I go to tell you." Hinata said.

"What is it?" Xion asked.

"I think we should tell anyone about the information that Yen Sid told us, to you know let everyone find out on there own. I just don't think I would be a good idea, for the time being." Hinata explained.

"Well alright, I you say so. Now lets go." Xion said walking through the portal.

"Coming!" Hinata said running through the portal closing behind her. Hinata then looked around for and took in a nice deep breath of air. "Ah, home sweet home." Hinata said.

"Yeah, even though I'm not originally from here it feels good to be back here." Xion said with a smile.

The two then started to walk towards the village gates, both brimming with confidence. As the two then walked through the village gate, they both started to nostalgic of being back when they heard a loud crash in the distance.

"W-what the!" Xion said.

"What was that!" Hinata said.

Hinata and Xion then rushed to the source of the crash where they saw two familiar people, one of them was wearing an orange and black track suit who also had blonde hair and whisker-marks on his face, and the other was wearing a basic red top with black gloves, black boots, black shorts, a pink skirt and red forehead protector. They were accompanied by Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi and Konohamaru.

"Sakura?" Hinata thought as she watch her starting to strangle Naruto with a surprised look on her face.

"I WAS WRONG! YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED ONE BIT! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU FOR TWO YEARS AND WITHIN TWO MINUTES YOU JUMP STRAIGHT INTO THAT! IDIOT! WHAT ABOUT THAT WONDERFUL FEELING OF RESPECT I HAD FOR YOU JUST NOW? AHH! AS IF I COULD FEEL SAD THAT I WASN"T GROWN UP LIKE YOU!" Sakura screamed still struggling Naruto.

"Hinata. . . Sakura scares me!" Xion whispered.

Hinata then swallowed hard. "Yeah. . . Me too."

"Well, better let them know we're here." Xion thought. Xion then did a fake deep cough to let them know they were there.

"Hmm. . . Hey Hinata! Xion!" Sakura said running towards them, dropping Naruto in the process. "Long time no see!" she happily said.

"Yeah, it's been awhile huh Sakura?" Xion said as she started to giggle.

"I-its good to see you again." Hinata said.

"So I'm guessing your training went well." Sakura said.

"Yeah, it was tough, but we made it through it pretty good." Xion said.

Hinata then walked over to Naruto's body that had a dazed look on his face. "N-naruto? Are you alright?"

Naruto then quickly got out of the sort-of unconscious state. "Jeez that hurt. Hmm?" Naruto then quickly saw Hinata and instantly got a big smile on his face. "Hinata!" Naruto said as he hugged her. "I've missed you so much. You look great." he whispered blushing at the face.

"I've missed you too Naruto and thank you." Hinata whispered back blushing.

The two then held each other for a short while and soon they started to make-out.

(Back to Sakura and Xion talking)

". . . I see. Wow that must have been some rough training!" Sakura said.

"Yeah it was but was worth it." Xion said. She then turned her head to Hinata and Naruto and started to giggle. "Well, I guess those two are happy to see each other." she sarcastically said.

"Hmm, what do mean?" Sakura asked. She then turned her head to Naruto and Hinata. "WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! W-WHAT THE! W-WHEN THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN!" Sakura yelled with her jaw dropping as she saw the two making-out.

Naruto and Hinata finally then realized where they were and quickly separated, both of them blushing at the face.

"NARUTO!" Sakura growled in an angry tone of voice as she was cracking her fists.

"W-w-wait Sakura! I can explain!" Naruto said in a fearful manner.

"SHANNAROOO!" Sakura screamed she was about to punch Naruto again but Hinata quickly stopped her with her keyblade.

"I would advise not to do that, you already punched him out once already." Hinata said.

Sakura then calmed down after a second and stood at the two with a serious look on her face. " Whoa, is this really Hinata? She brimming with confidence in herself. The training she went through must of really been tough if this was the results!" She thought.

"Whew. . . Thanks Hinata." Naruto gladly said with a sigh of relief. "Whoa what speed!" Naruto thought.

"N-no problem, thank you Naruto." Hinata said smiling.

"Well. . . That was unexpected." Kakashi said still reading his book. "Hinata's skills with the keyblade have greatly improved." Kakashi thought. He then turned his head towards Tsunade and nod his head.

Tsunade then nodded back. ". . . Right. The nostalgia ends here though. Kakashi." Tsunade said. "I think this will be a good choice. Hinata has become strong, I believe its time to test her as well." Tsunade thought.

Kakashi then closed his book. "Well. . . It's been a while hasn't it?" Naruto, Sakura and Hinata then turned there heads towards Kakashi. "From now on, you three will come with me on team related missions. It's different than before. It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today, we're equal Konoha Shinobis". He then looked toward Hinata "I've already token the liberty of talking to Kurenai-sensei and your father about this plan so you don't have to worry Hinata."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said bowing to him.

Kakashi than pulled out three bell from his pocket. "Well. . . first I'm a bit curious as to how you've developed." He then turned to Naruto and Sakura. "The rules are the same as when I first met you two." He then turned to Hinata. "Sakura will explain what you'll have to do, I'll meet you at the "Training Field" when your done. See ya later." He hastily said. He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"We'll meet you at the "Training Field", see ya." Tsunade said as she then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"See ya later." Jiraiya said as he also disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hmm, I wonder what that was about?" Hinata asked.

"Ah, he's just holding off our training." Naruto sarcastically said.

"Why?"

"Probably cause he wants to read that book of his. "Icha Icha Tactics"(Make-Out Tactics). Sorry I ever gave it to him." Naruto said sarcastically.

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei's a bit of a pervert." Hinata thought. "So what kind of test is this going to be?" Hinata asked turning to Sakura.

Sakura then turned to Hinata. "All we have to do is take those bells from him, but trust me it won't be easy mainly cause he has more experience then us and not to mention his Sharingan."

"Hmm. . . I got the feeling that this will be pretty difficult." Hinata said.

"Yeah, but not matter what we're going to pass this test!" Naruto proudly said. "I going to show off the results of my training with the Pervy Sage."

"As well as my training with Lady Tsunade." Sakura said.

"And my training with Yen Sid" Hinata said.

"Who?" Naruto and Sakura asked.

Hinata then started to giggle a bit. "I'll explain later."

The three started to laugh a bit and then started to head for the "Training Field".


	19. Chapter 19

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 19: Bells and the results of training

Hinata, Naruto, and Sakura were walking through the village to get to the "Training Field" to meet Kakashi for his test. Naruto and Hinata were holding hands while Sakura was walking ahead of the two giving them a angry and annoyed look, which the two just ignored.

"So your training went well huh?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty tough but I made it through." Hinata said confidently.

Naruto then wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

Sakura then got a disgust look on her face. "Get a room you two!" she angrily said.

The two then ended there kiss as Hinata look over at Sakura with a confused look on her face. "Is there something wrong Sakura?" she asked.

Sakura stopped walk and turn over to the two. "Uh yeah there's something wrong, I found out that two of my friend have been dating for who knows how long all because I find you two making out on the first day I see you two in two years!" Sakura started to yell.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Sakura calm down! Is it really that big a deal!" Naruto asked surprised at what she said. Naruto and Sakura then started to argue a bit.

"Hey come you two don't start fighting each other, we got to get to the "Training Field" to meet Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said.

The two looked towards Hinata, both with a look of realization. Naruto then nodded his head and smiled. "Yeah, we better get going." He then started to rush off ahead to the "Training Field".

"Wait up Naruto!" Sakura yelled catching up to him.

Hinata started to rush right behind them taking a deep breath. "That was close, I don't want to ruin their friendship with each other." She thought.

The three were soon at the "Training Field" waiting for Kakashi to begin the test, but unfortunately. . . He was late. Hinata and Sakura were leaning on the fence while Naruto was pacing around.

"Just how long does Kakashi-sensei plan on making us wait?" Naruto complained.

"Well, he's always been like this." Sakura said.

"I guess you guy had to go through this kind of thing before huh?" Hinata asked.

"Oh yeah" Naruto and Sakura said in unison.

"Seriously" Naruto said as he plopped on to the ground sitting. "I wish he could work on that some!"

Sakura and Hinata then got in a quick chuckle, followed by a puff of smoke on the fence causing the three to turn there head to see Kakashi on it.

"Hey! My bad, my bad!" Kakashi jokingly said. "Actually, while on the way here, I saw an old woman who needed some help-"

"Right! That's a lie!" Naruto and Sakura said in unison again interrupting their sensei.

"Yup, definitely like a daily routine." Hinata thought giggling to herself.

The four then started to walk over to three wooden post that were in the ground. "The rules are the same as before. No matter how, try to get the bells from me. You have until sunrise tomorrow." Kakashi explained.

Naruto and Sakura started to look around a bit.

"Well. . . This place. . . I've missed it." Naruto said.

"Yeah." Sakura said.

"Ah that's right. This is where you first trained, isn't it?" Kakashi said.

"Team 7. . . " Sakura said softly.

"The Three-Man team. . . " Naruto said softly.

". . . That time. . . Sasuke was around too, wasn't he?" Kakashi said.

"I think I know where this is going." Hinata thought.

Naruto and Sakura had a sad look on their faces until. . .

They both went to the ground, Sakura in the fetal position and Naruto in a crouched down position, both with a depressed look on there faces, both of them muttering Sasuke.

"I knew it." Hinata jokingly thought.

Kakashi then closed the book he was reading. "Well then. . . Shall we begin?"

Naruto and Sakura the stood back up.

"Hehe. . . You won't do it while reading the book this time? Kakashi-sensei" Naruto said as he was tightening his headband.

"You've already finished it?" Sakura said as she was putting her gloves on.

"Bet he did." Hinata said summoning out her keyblade.

"No. . . I think I should save the enjoyment for later." Kakashi said "Besides. . . This time for some reason. . . " he said as he was putting his hand to the part of his headband that was covering his eye.

"Here it comes!" Hinata thought.

Kakashi then lift up the headband revealing his Sharingan and the surrounding of it that looked like he got slashed in the eye and left a vertical scar. "I get the feeling I should take it a little seriously too."

Naruto quickly rushes in to attack Kakashi before he even officially started the exercise. Kakashi sped behind Naruto and restrained him. "Well. . . Your haste hasn't changed" Kakashi said. Naruto then began to chuckle a bit. After seeing a clone of Naruto point a kunai to his back, he vanished in a puff of smoke. Hinata used her Byakugan to locate Kakashi underground. Sakura pounded the ground with her fist, causing everything within a 50-meter radius to collapse on itself. "Found you." Sakura confidently said.

Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi stood at Sakura wide eyed for a moment before resuming.

"Note to self, don't mess with her. . . EVER!" Hinata thought with a look of fear on her face.

With Kakashi's location discovered, Hinata ran behind him, Keyblade ready to strike. Just as it seemed that Hinata had hit Kakashi, he used the Substitution jutsu to make her attack a log instead.

"Darn it!" Hinata said.

"Got him!" Naruto said as he quickly found Kakashi and tried to attack him with a Rasengan, but Kakashi used another Substitution to get night, Sakura, Naruto and Hinata were having a strategy meeting. The three were panting cause they were dealing with multiple attacks from Kakashi.

"I already knew it, but the Sharingan really is amazing. . . and not only that, his seal-making speed. . . It's too fast for me to follow. . . If we could somehow stop him using both his hands we could get the bells." Sakura said.

"But how? I never fought him before and I can tell that he is amazing." Hinata said.

"Yeah. . . Kakashi-sensei's unreasonably strong. He's smarter then Shikamaru. . . and has a better sense of smell than Kiba. . . he has better Sharingan than Sasuke. . . and better Taijutsu than Genjimayu. . ." Naruto explained. (Note: Genjimayu= Thick Brows, A.K.A: Bushy Brows, A.K.A: Rock Lee.)

"But even Kakashi-sensei has to have a weak point. . . ! If we think it over. . ." Sakura said.

Naruto then started to think when. . . "AH. . .! He. . . Has a weak point. . . !"

"Really!" Hinata and Sakura said at the same time. "Well what is it?" Sakura asked.

Naruto then started to giggle for a second. "Sakura! If you think back about how Kakashi-sensei's been until now. You'll understand." He then went and whispered something into Hinata ear causing her to giggle a bit.

"Stop being such a know-it-all Naruto, what's his weak point!" Sakura asked

Naruto started to giggle again. "Well it's. . . "

After a brief explanation. . .

"Of Course. . .! I can't believe he has a weak point like that. . . ! In. . . in that case, while we force his hands up, if we take that chance, if we're clever, maybe we can be protected from his Sharingan too! Naruto. . . You really are the number 1 most unpredictable person!" Sakura said.

"I'll say!" Hinata said giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw thanks Hinata" Naruto said blushing. "Anyway, if we prepare like that, we can win with the initiative."

"Right! Let's go!" Sakura said.

Hinata simply nodded her head. Kakashi was about to relax when a tremor forced him to fall back deeper into the woods. Sakura charged him with another empowered fist, but Kakashi managed to slip away. Hinata, using her Byakugan as a guide, charged her Keyblade for Ragnarok and fired at Kakashi, forcing him to use another Substitution jutsu. Having driven him back far enough, Hinata and Sakura ran up to Kakashi, who had brandished a kunai to prepare to strike.

"Now Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"Do it!" Hinata yelled.

"Let's go Kakashi-sensei! Naruto said.

"What!" Kakashi said.

"The last joke in "Icha Icha Tactics". . .! The truth is that the main character is. . . "

Kakashi, not wanting to be spoiled, covered his ears and eyes to tune Naruto out.

"Yes!" the three thought.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sakura, Naruto and Hinata each grabbed a bell."Huh?" Kakashi then reopened his eyes and ears to see that Naruto, Sakura and Hinata all had the bells in there hands.

Naruto then started to chuckle a bit again. "A ninja should look underneath the underneath."

"Isn't that right sensei?" Sakura said as she gave him a peace sign.

Hinata started to giggle a bit. "Nice try though."


	20. Chapter 20

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 20: First Night back in Konoha

"I can't believe I went down like that. . ." Kakashi complained as he look at his perverted book, he then lowered it as he saw Naruto Sakura and Hinata all chuckling as each of them were holding a bell in their hands. "I should've just read it to the end earlier."

Naruto then started to laugh. "But man, it's amazing how much you like reading that boring book!"

"Eh?" Kakashi muttered.

" The Pervy Sage lent me a copy, but it was so lame that I didn't even read past ten pages!" Naruto started to explain as Kakashi looked at him confused. "I actually have no idea how it ends."

Kakashi's eye then widen with realization as he pointed at them, soon dropping his upper body in shame.

"Even thought Naruto didn't know the ending, we figured that you'd react to just hearing "Make-Out Tactics". That was a good strategy, right?" Sakura said.

Hinata then started to giggle a bit. "Gotcha!" she said as Kakashi started to grumble a bit.

(Scenery change to restaurant area of Konoha)

"Well. . . You have become strong, huh? I'm amazed you were actually able to get the bells." Kakashi said complementing the three.

Naruto then stared to chuckle a bit. "Maybe I've surpassed even you, Kakashi-Sensei!" He then wrapped his arm around Hinata as she started to blush. "You were great Hinata."

"Thank you." Hinata said as she then gave him a kiss on the cheek

"What are you saying? Such conceit. . . " Sakura said. "AGH! WHEN THE HELL DID THOSE TWO START DATING! THIS WHOLE THING IS KILLING ME! SHANNARO!" Inner Sakura said.

Kakashi then started to lightly laugh a bit. "But anyway, I'm still young, and recently. . . I developed a brand new jutsu. . ."

Naruto stomach then started growl catching everyone's attention. "Ah! Yeah! We've haven't gone home or to Ichiraku Ramen yet!

"Yeah, I'm a bit hungry after training from yesterday too." Sakura said.

"Same here!" Hinata said.

"Right! It'll be Kakashi-Sensei's treat!" Naruto said.

"Alright! Sensei!" Sakura said.

"Sorry. . . I have to create and submit a list of formations of the new teams." Kakashi said as he made a hand sign. "So it's goodbye for now." He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"AHH! HE RAN AWAY!" Naruto said in shock.

"Saying something like that. . . he's just thinking to continue reading the book. . . probably." Sakura said.

"Should've guess he would've done that." Hinata said.

Sakura then turned her head and saw two familiar faces. "Shikamaru! Temari! Hey!" she said waving to them and pointing at Naruto and Hinata. "Who do you think these guys are?"

"Hey! If it isn't Naruto and Hinata!" Shikamaru said cheerfully said.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto said happily.

"Long time no see." Hinata said.

"Did you guys just come home?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, we just back yesterday." Naruto explained.

Shikamaru then began to chuckle a bit. "So has any of your idiocy left you? And have you changed as well?" Shikamaru asked.

"No. He hasn't changed at all." Sakura blurted out.

"Sakura!" Naruto said depressingly

"Ah. . . Really?" Shikamaru asked jokingly.

Naruto then started to chuckle and got a sly grin on his face. "So, are you on a date or something?

"That's not it." Shikamaru said.

"You're joking. Why would I go out with such a . . ." Temari started to explain. "There's a Chunin Exam soon. I'm just going back and forth between The Sand and The Leaf for meetings."

"And it's troublesome, but I've become an Examiner, so I was told to go and see off the messengers from The Sand." Shikamaru said in a complaining tone of voice.

"A Chunin Exam. . . ? That brings back memories. . . " Naruto said.

Hinata then nodded her head, remembering the first exam she was in, when she realized something. "Oh no, Me and Naruto are still Genin and-" Hinata thought.

"Yeah! And Naruto, what are you and Hinata planning?" Shikamaru asked.

"What are you mean?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.

"What, you say. . . It's a Chunin Exam. The only two from our class who hasn't become a chunin is you and Hinata." Shikamaru explained.

"Three, two, one." Hinata thought.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHH?" Naruto screamed out.

"Knew it." Hinata thought.

"Then! Then! You're a chunin too, Sakura?" Naruto asked in a panicky tone.

"Yep!" Sakura replied with a peace sign.

"Plus, Kankurou of the Sand and Temari here are already Jonin." Shikamaru said.

"HUHHHHHHHHHHHH?" Naruto exclaimed. "Hey, then Gaara! What about Gaara?"

Temari then explained to Naruto and Hinata what happened to Gaara.

"Is that so? Gaara became the Kazekage?" Naruto said as he clenched his fist. "Amazing! I'm not going to lose, either!" He smiled as he then pointed to the Hokage Monument. "I'm definitely going to be Hokage! Just you watch me, Gaara!"

"I know you can do it." Hinata thought. She then gave Naruto a kiss on the cheek.

"I knew it." Shikamaru said as he started to chuckle.

"Knew what?" Hinata asked.

"Shikamaru?" Sakura asked.

"What's up?" Naruto said with his arm around Hinata again.

"That you two were in love." Shikamaru said.

"EHHHHHHHHH? YOU KNEW ALL ALONG?" Naruto and Sakura screamed in unison.

"H-how long have you known?" Hinata asked.

"It was pretty obvious, first being that you always used to get shy around Naruto when you saw him, second being at the Chunin Exams where you first beat Neji when you hugged Naruto ending with the both of you blushing, third being that you got really pissed off when that Nexus guy knocked out Naruto, and lastly well. . . " Shikamaru explained.

"Well what?" Naruto asked.

"The last thing being that Hinata was in the same room as Naruto and when I over heard you two talking about how I would be a blabber mouth if I saw you two in some position, afterwards being that I went into your room and Hinata was under the covers in Naruto bed." Shikamaru explained.

Sakura stood there, flushed at the face staring at Naruto and Hinata as they were blushing as she got to mutter out a few words. "Under. . . The covers. . . In Naruto's. . .Hospital. . . BED?" She lastly screamed out as she was cracking her knuckles.

"W-what Sakura I-I cam explain!" Naruto screamed out as he started to run away from her.

"GET BACK HERE!" Sakura said as she ran after him, Hinata rushing behind the two trying t calm Sakura down.

"Hmm. . . Maybe I shouldn't have said something about that hospital thing." Shikamaru said.

"Ya think?" Temari sarcastically said chuckling to herself.


	21. Chapter 21

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 21: First Mission! Journey To the Sand

(Time jump to early morning of the next day)

"Your late!" Naruto screamed out as Kakashi came over to himself, Hinata and Sakura.

"Well, this time I was delayed by filling out paperwork for the new team. . ." Kakashi started to explain.

"Today we start our first mission as a new team! Be enthusiastic! Kakashi-Sensei! You've been like that for ages!" Naruto said.

"Oh, let it go! There's nothing you can do about the fact that he has a face devoid of any enthusiasm!" Sakura said,

Hinata just nodded her head in agreement as she quickly notice a hawk flying through the air. "Hmm. . . That's unusual." She thought. She then looked over at Kakashi and notice that he sees it as well. "Uh. . . Kakashi-Sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Hmm. . . Yes Hinata, what is it?" Kakashi replied.

"I just remembered that I had to do something quick. It won't be long. I'll meet you guys to get our mission." Hinata then quickly ran off.

"Hmm. . . I wonder was that was about?" Naruto thought.

Hinata was then rushing through the village rooftops as quickly as possible. "Something's up! I can feel it! I better let Xion know." Hinata murmured to herself as she searched for her.

Eventually, Hinata finds Xion at the top of the Hokage Monument sitting along the cliff. "Hey Hinata." Xion said without turning her head as she walked up behind her.

"Hey. . . You sensed it too right?" Hinata said getting straight to the point.

"Yeah." Xion said as she stood up. "Hinata. . . Be careful, I feel that something is appearing on the horizon."

Hinata then nodded her head. "Well I better get back. See ya." She then put her hand out for a handshake.

"Yeah." Xion said as she put her hand firmly shaking Hinata's hand as the two were smiling at each other. "Don't worry, I'll protect the village while your gone."

"Thanks." Hinata said as she rush off to meet her teammates.

Hinata quickly rushed back to where her team was going to get a mission as a new team. Finally she got the "Mission Assignment Desks" at the "Ninja Academy" and saw her teammates, Tsunade, and her former teacher Iruka. Naruto was in a head-lock by Sakura because he refused to do a lame mission.

"IT'S. . . IT'S BAD! FIFTH!" a voice screamed form outside.

"What is it? You are so loud. . ." Tsunade complained.

"THE SAND'S KAZEKAGE HAS BEEN TAKEN BY AN ORGANIZATION CALLED AKATSUKI! WE JUST RECEVIED THE MESSAGE!" she yelled out attracting everyone's, mainly Naruto's attention.

"I knew something was up!" Hinata thought. "But who is this Akatsuki?"

Tsunade then read the paper, soon flicking it away. ". . . Right, Team Kakashi, I will tell you your new mission." Tsunade blankly said. " You are to immediately go to The Sand, find out the situation, and relay it to Konoha. . . after that, follow the orders of The Sand and back them up.

(Later at the Village Gate)

Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, and Kakashi were all prepared to leave for Suna. Tsunade, Iruka, and Xion were there to see them off.

"Well. . . off we go!" Naruto cheered.

"Ok Lady Tsunade off we go." Sakura said.

"Be back soon." Hinata said.

There was a moment of silence until Iruka told them to do there best, and everyone replied back to him, as the four were about to leave. . .

"Yo! Going on a mission eh Naruto?" Jiraiya said jumping out of nowhere.

"Yes sir!" Naruto said to his teacher.

"Um, more importantly, Tsunade, something terrible has happened The Sand's Kazekage-" Jiraiya started to say.

"I know, I'm about to send these guys off to there now."

Hinata quickly notice that Jiraiya was whispering something into Tsunade ear, during this time she took the chance to whisper something quickly into Xion's ear. "Try to find some kind of information on anything Yen Sid told us about the truth about the Uchiha clan, any secrets will do."

Xion then gave her a simple nod of her head as an understanding.

Jiraiya then told Naruto to come over to him for a second to quickly tell him something but Hinata couldn't hear it. But she did hear his response.

"They've got something against me so this time, I'm coming after them." Naruto strong fully said.

Jiraiya then quickly said something to Naruto again, the he went over to Kakashi to tell his something as well where he replied with a simple "yeah".

"Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura, Hinata let's get a move on! Naruto said as he started to dash off.

Wai-wait a minute Naruto!" Sakura said catching up to him.

"Coming!" Hinata said quickly catching up to him as well.

Soon the four were dashing through the tree with no chance at stopping, that is until Sakura noticed something on the road below. "Temari!"

Temari turned her head as the four leaf shinobi landed near her. Sakura then explained what happened to her brother.

"What! Gaara was-!" Temari said

Kakashi simply nodded his head. "It'll take three days to reach The Sand from here, lets hurry."

The five were once again dashing through the tree at top speed, sticking together until Naruto started to get ahead of the group.

"Naruto. . . Just because I said to hurry, you shouldn't split up the team. Don't get so heated. . . Didn't Jiraiya just tell you that?" Kakashi said.

"I CAN'T STAND IT!" Naruto yelled out shocking everyone. "Even I now why there are after Gaara!. . . You still don't know, do you Sakura? Inside me. . . Is the sealed Nine-Tailed Fox Demon. . ."

Temari stared at Naruto, surprised at what he said, while Sakura and Hinata got a depressed look on their face.

"Me and Gaara. . . because we have monsters contained in our bodies. . . THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE AFTER! THA'S WHAT I CAN'T STAND! JUST SEEING US AS MONSTERS, I CAN'T STAND THEM LOOKING AT US WHATEVER WAY THEY FEEL LIKE!" Naruto then started to have multiple flashbacks involving Gaara. "He and I are. . . the exact same. . . and he was. . . fighting, he was more lonelier than I was! Just like I was before! He was targeted by the Akatsuki."

"Naruto was targeted by these guys as well!" Hinata thought.

"EVEN SO! WHY IS IT ALWAYS HIM ALONE THAT HAS TO HAVE SUCH A HARD ROLE? ALWAYS HIM ALONE? THAT'S WHY! THAT'S WHY WON'T JUST SIT AROUND ASKING "WHY"! THIS TIME, FOR DEFINETE, I WANT TO SAVE HIM!" Naruto explained.

Hinata smiled at Naruto's determination as she caught up to him.

Soon enough as they were getting closer to Suna, Sakura went closer to Naruto and began to talk about something, but Hinata couldn't hear them. Eventually they made it to Suna.


	22. Chapter 22

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 22: Xion's Search! Secrets Revealed!

(These events happened during the "Rescues The Kazekage" Arc)

"Hmm. . . Three days have passed since Hinata and her team went to Suna to rescue Gaara. I wonder how they're doing?" Xion asked herself as she walk through the village. She then tackled by what looked like a giant white dog that started licking her with someone on it.

"Come on Akamaru, we don't have to play." The teenage on the dog's back said as he got off, his outfit was a black leather jacket, pants, forehead protector, pants and sandals. The most noticeable feature was the red markings on his face. "Hmm? Hey can that be? Well, well, well! Hey Xion! Long time no see!" Kiba said

Unfortunately, Kiba didn't get her attention because she was too busy hugging Akamaru as he licked her face. "Hehe. . . Same old Xion with dogs."

(FLASHBACK) (Before "Search For Tsunade" Arc)

Hinata was bring Xion to meet her teammates Kiba, Akamaru and Shino at the academy.

"So what are these guys like?" Xion asked as they were walking.

"Well Shino's sort of the silent type and Kiba and Akamaru have a strong brotherly bond." Hinata explained.

"Oh. . . Are Kiba and Akamaru twin brothers or something?"

"Uh. . . No, they're-"

"Hey Hinata!" Kiba called out in the distance.

The two rushed over to Kiba and Shino.

"So. . . This is her?" Shino asked.

"Yes. . . My name is Xion. It's nice to meet you." she said as she bowed her head.

"The pleasure is ours." Shino said as he bowed his head.

"You know we should be thanking you." Kiba said as he scratched his head.

"Hmm. . . What for?" Xion asked with a confused look on her face.

"Well you see-" Shino started to explained but was interrupted as the four heard small barking from the distance that was getting closer.

"Hmm? What's that? A dog?" Xion thought. Suddenly Xion was tackled to the ground by a white blur knocking her out.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba and Hinata cried out.

When Xion reopened her eyes, they started to twinkle at the sight of the little puppy on her. "UWAAAAAAAAAA!" she cried out as she quickly go up started to pet Akamaru as he was smiling and licking her face.

"Whoa! Didn't see that coming." Kiba said surprise at both Xion and Akamaru.

Hinata and Shino just stood there just as surprised as sweat came down Hinata's head.

(FLASHBACK END)

Kiba then started to chuckle. "Good times." he thought.

"Hmm? Oh hey Kiba, long time no see!" Xion finally got say.

"Yeah! So if you're here, does that mean Hinata here as well?" Kiba wondered.

"Well she isn't here right now."

"Oh, already back and sent out on a mission. I heard from Kurenai-sensei that she got chosen to be Kakashi-sensei's new team."

"Yup. She's grown stronger and confident in herself."

Kiba then smile, but quickly realized the time. "Ah crud, I gotta go, my sisters need me." He then got back on to Akamaru's back and started to ride off back to his house giving her a thumbs-up.

"Oh, ok see ya later!" Xion called out.

Soon Xion was walking through the village again, but this time with a serious look on her face. "Well. . . Time to get to work." She thought. She then started to dash to the abandon area where the Uchiha clan lived. By the time she got there, it was the afternoon. "So. . . This is where the Uchiha Clan mainly live. . " She thought as she walked through the abandon street. "So empty. . . To think this is where a massacre happened." she said. Suddenly she started to hear footsteps that sounded like they were coming towards her, to avoid being noticed by whoever it was, Xion decided to run in a random house. "Who could that have been?" Xion thought as she wanted to gasp for breath but had to hold it in

"Hmm. . . interesting to see someone in my old home. . . " a voice said coming from behind her.

Xion gasped as she turned around to see a long-haired man in a black cloak with red clouds on it, but the noticeable feature about him was his red eyes. "S-Sharingan!" Xion muttered.

"Ah. . . It seems you know of my clan's Dōjutsu or eye technique." the man said in a monotone like voice.

"Y-your clan's!" Xion said in a fearful tone of voice. "This is insane, beside Sasuke, Kakashi, and that Madara guy, the only other person to have those eyes is!" Xion thought as became wide-eyed at the realization. "Are you. . . Itachi Uchiha?" Xion finally got to ask.

"Hmm. . . I see my reputation proceeds me." Itachi said.

Xion then gave him a serious glare at him. "What are you doing here? Answer me! NOW!" Xion said summoning her keyblade preparing for battle.

Itachi stood at her as if he had no emotion on his face. "Don't worry little girl, I'm not here to fight. . . but just to . . . reminisce and maybe. . . to help you."

"What do you mean?"

"You know about the massacre. . . but. . . do you know the truth behind it?"

Xion then glared at him with even more force until she sent back her keyblade. "Oh. . .which truth do mean?" she dumb fully asked.

Itachi then smirked at her as a crow then came off his body. "Clever, you already know one of the truths of Uchiha. . . about why I murdered the clan. But. . . There is one other truth you should find out. Follow my crow. . . and you will know the other truth." Itachi said as he disappeared in the shadows, leaving only the crow.

Xion then walked over to the crow with a discomforting look on her face. "I don't know what this "other truth" is. . . but I think its important to find out." Xion bluntly said as the crow started to fly away with Xion right behind it. After a couple minutes, Xion with the crow now on her shoulder appeared to be at what looked like a shine, where it went from being the afternoon to night.

"So you've come." Itachi said appearing out of nowhere behind a pillar.

"Yeah. . ." Xion said in a calmer tone of voice.

"Follow." Itachi said as he went into the shrine with Xion keeping her distance behind Itachi. He then went to the seventh tatami on the far right of the building.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Xion asked in a serious tone of voice.

Itachi then removed the mat and opened what looked like a hidden doorway. "Follow." He once again said as he down into the hole.

"What could be down there?. . . I guess I won't know until I find out." Xion said as she follow Itachi. "Hmm. . . It's strange but. . . I don't any darkness from him for some reason, I wonder why?" Xion thought.

Itachi and Xion soon came to a small room where there were two flames, the mark of the Uchiha clan on the walls and in the middle of it was what looked like a stone tablet. "This is the Secret Meeting Place of the Uchiha clan. This tablet will tell you the truths of the Sharingan, and the secret to unlocking its power even further." Itachi explained.

"F-further then the Sharingan?" Xion asked.

"Yes, The Mangekyō Sharingan. . . But there are certain requirements to unlock it." Itachi said.

"Requirements being?" Xion asked.

Without saying a word, Itachi then disappeared again in the shadows leaving Xion, leaving behind where he was, a sheet of paper with a single order. "Bring the Hokage here."

Xion stood there for a few minute, trying to realize what just happened as she then looked back at the stone tablet. "Well. . . I better let Tsunade take at a look at this." She thought as left the shine to go get her. She rushed for the Hokage mansion as fast as she could, also trying to fit all the pieces in her head. "I don't get! How did Itachi get pass the village's defenses? Why would he show me that shine? What this secret to this " Mangekyō Sharingan"? Man this is all confusing." she thought. She then yawned from exhaustion and decided to go home for the night.

(The next morning)

Tsunade was in her office drinking a bottle of sake and doing paper work. "Yup! That hit's the spot!" She said as she finished chugging an entire bottle.

Shizune then walked in with a depressed look on her face. "Lady Tsunade, should you really being drinking this early in the more?"

"Hey I'm the Hokage so I can do what I want! Anyway I can tell that isn't the reason why you're here is it?"

"Well. . . Xion hear and she would like to talk to you privately, should I send her up?"

"Yes, send her in."

Shizune soon left to get Xion who in front of the Hokage Mansion. Xion was waiting to see Tsunade when a strange bandaged old man with an X-shaped scar on his chin passed her. As soon as she passed the man, she sensed something. "Hmm. . . What was that?" She thought. She then took a good look at and thought she saw something but wasn't able to tell for sure, so enough Shizune came over.

"Tsunade is ready to see you Xion." Shizune told her.

"Thank you." Xion replied as she followed Shizune to Tsunade's office. "Umm. . . Shizune?"

"Yes Xion, what's is it?"

"Well before you came, a strange man passed me and I thought I sensed something."

"What did he look like?"

"Well. . . He had bandages over one side of his body, he was walking with a cane, but a distinctive feature he had was an X-shape scar on his chin." Xion explained.

"Oh. . . Him. . ." Shizune said in a serious tone of voice.

"You know him?"

"Yeah, Danzō Shimura, he competed for the chair the 3rd Hokage, but he is completely different then the 3rd, he's got a thing with a military power and also hate Tsunade."

Xion quietly gasped so that Shizune couldn't hear. " S-so that's Danzō! The man that toke advantage of Itachi and force him to kill his own clan! I better avoid him at all cost." Xion thought. "I don't trust him." She said to Shizune as she nodded her head in agreement.

The two were silent until they got to the doors of Tsunade's office. "I'll tell Tsunade that your hear, please wait here."

"Alright." She said as Shizune went into her office, after a few minutes Shizune told her she could come in as she was told to.

"You had something to talk to me about?" Tsunade said getting straight to the point.

Xion nodded her head. "Hold on, can we walk around town so we can be alone? The information I recently gained is pretty important and maybe you could use a "drink"."

Thinking of what she meant by "drink" Tsunade quickly dragged her out of her office speeding past Shizune. Soon the two were at a bar, Tsunade was drinking a whole bottle of sake, while Xion was just having a water sweat dropping of her head as she watched Tsunade drink. "So Xion, what is it that you had to tell me that is so important?"

"Well. . . recently I stumbled to well. . . where Sasuke's clan used to live." Xion began to say.

"Ah. . . The Uchiha clan. . . such a prestige clan."

"I decided to walk around and I decided to go into some kind of shine." She lied not wanting to tell her about meeting Itachi.

"Oh, you must mean the "Naka Shrine."

"I don't know how exactly, but it seemed that one of floor plates was loose so I sort of took it off and it revealed a doorway."

Tsunade stopped her drinking when she heard about this. "Really! What did you do?"

Xion then started to chuckle a bit. "I sort of opened and went down the stair."

"Hmm. . . What did you end up finding?"

Xion then got out of her seat "I think it would best to bring to you to it." she said as started to leave with Tsunade quickly following her.

The two then got to the "Naka Shrine" as Xion went in. "Follow" Xion said sort of mocking Itachi. Tsunade quickly did as she asked. Once inside Xion then mimicked Itachi again by going to the seventh tatami on the far right of the building and opening the floor passage. "Come on." She seriously said as she went down the passage with Tsunade following and soon enough the two were at the stone tablet.

"Here it is. I can't read what is on the tablet. Do you know anyone who can?"

Tsunade then walked up to the tablet then turned back to Xion. "Hmm. . . This will be difficult, but I think the Cryptanalysis Squadmight be able to decipher it. I'll go and get them over here and decipher this message." Tsunade said as she rushed out to get them.

"Alright" Xion stood there looking at the stone tablet, thinking to herself. "Requirements for the Mangekyō Sharingan. . . What could they be?" Xion thought.


	23. Chapter 23

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 23: Meeting of Destiny

After getting to Suna, Hinata, Naruto, Kakashi and Temari met up with Baki who explained what happened to Gaara and brought them to Kankurō who was injured by a member of the "Akatsuki", then they were almost attacked by the elder known as Chiyo but Naruto blocked her attacks from hitting Kakashi. Sakura then helped cure Kankurō of the poison he was injected with. Kakashi then summoned his ninja hound to try and find where Gaara went by a scrap of clothing that Kankurō got. The next day one of Kakashi's dogs "Pakkun" found out that there base is in The Land of Rivers, and the team prepares to leave, but then suddenly Chiyo comes off a building above them and soon enough they were off to confront the "Akatsuki". Now the five are leaping through the trees, on there way to the Land Of Rivers.

"Naruto. . . can I ask you something?" Sakura asked out of the blue as the five were leaping through the trees.

Naruto stared at her, wondering what she was going to ask.

"Since when did the Akatsuki started to target you?"

Hinata gasped when Sakura asked him that. "They've been targeting him?" She thought.

Naruto hesitated and was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. . ."

Kakashi explained that two years ago, two members of the Akatsuki infiltrated Konoha to capture Naruto and now its been three years since then they started to move again.

"Why did they wait three years?" Sakura asked

"Yeah, why now?" Hinata asked. "I can't believe that Naruto went through all that." She thought.

Kakashi then explained that he thinks that it was cause Jiraiya was around so they couldn't get the chance to attack, Chiyo then came into the conversation by saying information about capturing 'Tailed Beasts'.

"A 'Tailed Beast'?"

"The Nine-Tailed Fox inside of Naruto." Hinata thought.

Chiyo then explained what 'Tailed Beasts' were and there are a total of nine of them, and that every nation wanted them for military uses

"Nine! So that means that there are other like Naruto and Gaara! Still I can't that people would use them as weapons." Hinata thought.

Soon the five came to a clearing.

"Everyone halt!" Kakashi called out, which everyone listened, as in front of them was a man in a black cloak with red clouds on it, also wearing a Konoha forehead protector with a carved horizontal scratch through it.

"Who?" Sakura asked.

"Right from the beginning." Kakashi said.

"This guy. . . Those eyes." Chiyo said.

"He must be. . ." Hinata muttered.

"Itachi. . . Uchiha!" Naruto said.

"Itachi. . . Ho, this is. . . The child who killed his entire family?" Chiyo said

"Yeah, mainly because he was force to do it!" Hinata angrily thought.

"It has been a while. . . Kakashi. . . Naruto." Itachi said.

"You bastard. . . Not just me, but even Gaara? I'LL BEAT YOU ALL!" Naruto screamed..

Itachi then started to move his hands.

"EVERYONE DON'T-" Kakashi was about to yell out when he suddenly stopped talking and just stared into space.

"KAKASHI-SEN-" Sakura and Naruto were about to say when also they stopped talking and stared into space.

"No, it can't-" Chiyo said when she suddenly stopped talking and just stared into space.

"YOU! WHAT DID YOU-" Hinata was about to say when she also suddenly stopped talking and stared out into space.

"Hmp. . . Fools." Itachi said as walked over to Naruto. "Now for the Nine-Tails."

Suddenly Hinata's clothes started to glow within a bright light blinding Itachi. The next thing Itachi knew, Hinata was in front of Naruto with her Keyblade in her hand and Byakugan activated.

"If you want Naruto you'll have to go through me!" Hinata demanded. "Whew. . . I don't know how, but I think something has made me immune to genjutsu. I'll have to talk to Xion about it after this." Hinata thought

Itachi went back to where he was and stared at her, intrigued by her abilities. "Very well. . . Come!"

"Wait! . . . Before we begin, there's something I got to ask and only you know."

". . . and what would that be, young Hyuga?"

". . . The truth. . . I know the real reason behind the massacre."

Itachi stared at her, wide-eyed at what she said. "You mean!"

"Yeah. . . You did it because you were ordered to!"

Itachi leaned his head down with a depressed look on his face. "I see. . ."

"So it is true! The Uchiha Clan planning a coup-"

"Hyuga girl, that's enough." Itachi called out. "Does anyone else know?"

"No. . . just me and friend Xion. But we promised not to tell until the time was right."

"Good, at least the Uchiha Name's reputation can be preserved."

"Yeah. . ."

"Now that we got settled with. . . Come!" Itachi said as he prepared to fight.

Hinata simply nodded her head.

Itachi begins the fight with a Great Fireball jutsu, which Hinata counters with Firaga.

"Strong. . . Nothing less of an Uchiha." Hinata thought.

During the explosion, Itachi slips behind her and attempts to use the Phoenix Sage Fire jutsu, but Hinata dodges it and swings at him with her Keyblade. This Itachi turns out to be a Shadow Clone. As the smoke clears, Hinata notices two more Itachi's.

"Is that all you got?" The Itachi's asked.

As Hinata goes to attack one, she thinks the situation over again and fires two Ragnaroks at the two. As Ragnarok collides with them, they both begin to expand and explode, exposing them both as Shadow Clones.

"Time to end this!" Hinata yelled out.

Using her Byakugan, Hinata sees another Itachi approaching behind her, and she infuses her Keyblade with her chakra to perform her Gentle Fist: Lion's Raid technique hitting Itachi in the stomach sending him backwards, leaving a trail in front of him.

The two were panting heavily from the intense battle they had both of them being almost out of breath, when Naruto had broke out of Itachi's genjutsu when he saw Hinata and Itachi, both out of breath.

"HINATA!" Naruto called out as he went over to her. He then stared at Itachi as he just stood there. "Hinata! Are you alright!" he asked her.

"Yeah. . . I'm alright. . ." she said as she was panting for her breath.

Naruto look at Itachi and smirk at Hinata. "Ready to end this fight?"

Hinata got up on feet and smiled. "Yeah"

Itachi then got and stared at the two wondering what they were going to do.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he made the hand sign, soon enough there were 10 perfect Naruto copies.

Hinata then started to prepare a "Ragnarok" to the point where the orbs started to appear when the Naruto clones started to go to each of the orbs and admit some of there charka to the point where each of the orbs became an individual Rasengan.

"RAGNAROK-" Hinata yelled.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto yelled as Hinata fired out the newly dubbed "Ragnarok-Rasengan"

Itachi tried to avoid the attack but it ended following him and hitting him in the stomach as it cause a large explosion that left a crater in its place. At that moment, Kakashi, Sakura and Chiyo broke out of the genjutsu.


	24. Chapter 24

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 24: Hinata Vs Hinata! A new discovery

The five were staring at the body of what was supposed to be Itachi to find that it wasn't actually him but a man the Chiyo knew named Yuura from Suna. It was then realized that the enemy was using a incredibly powerful jutsu to stall them.

"There's no mistake about it. . . They've already started to extract the Tailed-Beast!" Chiyo said, shocking everyone. "Perhaps they wish to use the "One-Tailed" Shukaku to make a new Jinchuuriki."

"There's no time then. . . We must hurry and save Gaara. . ." Kakashi rushed saying.

"Jinchuuriki?" Hinata asked.

Chiyo then explained once again about the "Tailed-Beast" and explained that Jinchuuriki have the power to control them by sealing them inside other people. Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura then got a depressed look on her face.

"So that what they're called. . ." Hinata thought.

"These Jinchuuriki were used. . . many times for war, weren't they. . . ?" Sakura finally asked.

"That right." Chiyo bluntly said.

"Then! The ones who made into Jinchuuriki. . ."

"I already know the reason why Naruto was made into a Jinchuuriki. . ." Hinata thought as she remembered Yen Sid story about Naruto's birth.

"How do you remove a "Tailed-Beast"?" Sakura asked, surprising Naruto and Hinata.

"If, for even an instant, a sealing jutsu which releases the exact amount of power to match up with the "Tailed-Beast's" is used. . . That takes a considerable amount of time. But, if that were to be done, the Jinchuuriki would. . . " Chiyo explained before hesitating.

"Would what?" Hinata thought for a second before realizing. . . ". . . You mean. . ." Hinata said fearfully.

"Yes. If the "Tailed-Beast " is extracted, the Jinchuuriki will die" Chiyo said as the wind started to blow gently.

Chiyo then explained about the past Jinchuuriki's that came before Gaara that were extracted, resulting in their deaths. These caused Sakura to start to cry as Hinata hugged Naruto holding back the tears in her shut eyes.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

"Never thought I would be back here. . ." Hinata said as she walked through Naruto's subconscious to the cage where the Fox Demon was. When she got there, she saw Naruto staring in front of the gate as the Fox's red eye stared at him.

"Hey Hinata. . ." Naruto said as turned around to see her as she walked up to him.

"Hey Naruto. . . Long time no see fox. . ." Hinata said as she talked to the two of them.

"Lavender-Eyes. . ." The fox demon said.

Hinata then hugged Naruto asking one thing. "You won't them get you. . . right?"

"Hell no! I'm no weapon, nor a monster. . . I'm Naruto Uzimaki!" he said in serious tone of voice.

Hinata simply held him tighter whispering a couple of words. "I'll protect you no matter what!"

Naruto then quickly pulls in Hinata for a kiss on the lip before Hinata then finished to talk to the fox.

"I wonder fox?" Hinata asked.

"What?" The fox demon replied

"Who would you rather be in? Naruto or whatever the Akatsuki are using to seal the other "Tailed-Beast"?"

(Back in the real world)

After a quick conversation between Naruto and Sakura, the five made it to where the Akatsuki were, but was sealed by a barrier, Hinata decided to look through the rock to see what was going on but couldn't really explain it in words except that there was eleven people that were covering there faces so she see them even with her Byakugan, Kakashi was about to explain how to get rid of it when Might Guy, Tenten and Rock Lee came in. Kakashi then explained that there were five seals including the one on the rock here, Hinata then used her Byakugan and found each one, each being quiet a distance from there current location each being in range of radio transmission.

"Hinata, will be possible if you could go to one of the seals location?" Naruto asked gratefully.

"No problem. Leave it to me." Hinata replied.

"Right! We'll use these radios, following Hinata's directions, we can keep in contact till we find the seals!" Gai said as he gave a radio to Hinata.

Hinata equipped the radio to herself as she brought to the right frequency as Gai's started to go to the seals.

"Hinata. . ." Naruto quickly said before she left.

"Yes Naruto?" Hinata replied before Naruto gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Be careful, because. . . I don't know what I would do without you."

"Thank you. . ." Hinata said as she went off to the seal.

As she directed Gai's team to the seals, she eventually got her seal where the others told her that they got to their seals as well and told her to remove it. After removing the tag however. . .

"What the?" Hinata thought as she saw what look like the earth itself was coming up from the ground and changed into her.

"Hinata. . ." Gai said over the radio.

"Yeah the same thing is happening here too." Hinata replied as she got to into her Gentle Fist Stance. "Better not use the Keyblade until I figure out more about this. . . Trap." she thought. She then charged into the copy of herself as it got into the same stance.

Hinata moved in with a Gentle Fist, but her clone blocked the attack, then swung around to hit Hinata.

"Jeez, its like fighting myself without the keyblade." Hinata thought

Hinata gracefully dodged and tried to attack again, but she couldn't land a hit. The clone leapt in the air and tried to attack Hinata from the air, but Hinata executed her Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms technique. The clone just barely pulled back its attack in time to escape damage.

"Strong. . . Maybe this will work. . ."

Exhausted, Hinata desperately launched a Blizzaga at her clone.

"Hmm. . .?"

As soon as the clone dodged the attack, Hinata realized that the clone didn't have her skills as a Keyblade Master.

"This my chance! I got an advantage!" She thought as she summoned her Keyblade and launched a barrage of Ragnaroks at the clone.

"Your finished!" She yelled as soon as the clone was midair, Hinata leaped and performed Ars Arcanum, beating the clone relentlessly turning it back into rock.

"Done. . ." Hinata said panting as she quickly did Curaga on herself. "Better get back to Naruto and the oth-" she was about to say as her eyes started to widen as she a vision, which was unusual to her now cause she thought she learned everything about using the keyblade. She saw a boy holding a keyblade inverse style as he then spin and threw it in the air as it started to glow, but when it came back it wasn't a blade but as a strange device that looked a winged waveboard as he then got on it and started to ride it. The vision ended surprising Hinata at what she saw as she then looked at her keyblade.

"I didn't know they could do that! Cool! I'll have to Xion about this!" Hinata said. She then took in a deep breath. "I hope this work!" Hinata thought. She then threw her keyblade into the air.

The keyblade started to glow as it was in the air, when it came back down it shape had changed into what look like a snow white metal air bike with dark blue metallic bird like wings with a pointed end. Hinata had an amazed look on face at what her keyblade turned into, as she got on it. . .

"Awesome. . ." She thought as she got comfortable on it putting her hands on the handle bars, starting the engine. "I hope I can handle this. . ." Hinata said. The new formed Keyblade Glider then started to move around in the air as it started to hover, Hinata the started to chuckle a bit before she sensed something. "This can't be! Naruto!" she thought. She then activated the Glider and started to fly through the air, Byakugan activated when she saw Naruto, and Kakashi chasing after what looked like a one-armed man on a strange looking bird with someone in its body, a closer look showed that was Gaara. "Hang on Naruto! I'm coming!" She thought as she started to fly faster towards them.

(Naruto and Kakashi)

Space started to warp around Deidara as Kakashi used Kamui on him, but unfortunately it got only his only arm he had.

Kakashi grasped his eye in pain as Naruto looked amazed at the jutsu he did. Kakashi then tried to do Kamui again when he started to sense something that was also noticed by Naruto.

"Hmm! This sound. . . What is it?" Kakashi thought as he heard which was unfamiliar to him.

"This feeling. . . Could it be?" Naruto thought as he then looked towards the sky.

Suddenly a white flash slice Deidara's bird, cutting its head off. It revealed to be Hinata on her Glider with Gaara in hands and her Byakugan activated getting rid of the explosive clay before it exploded. "So this is the power of the Akatsuki." Hinata thought as she went to Naruto. "You guys alright?" she asked.

"Uh. . . Yeah. A little banged up but alright." Naruto said surprised to see Hinata.

"And you Kakashi?" Hinata asked turning to him.

"I've been better." Kakashi said in a sarcastic but serious tone of voice.

Hinata then gave Gaara to Naruto and turned to Deidara. "I won't let you hurt my friends anymore!" Hinata yelled.

Deidara started to mutter something, but Hinata could hear until. . . "-oh well, I guess I'll take my leave. But I'll leave you my friends! Hm. . ."

"What!" Hinata got her glider and turned back to a keyblade.

Suddenly a group of gaseous like creatures that were just a spherical head with jiggered mouths, and yellow eye.

Hinata's eyes then widen at what she saw. "N-no way! How can you-"

"Summon the Heartless?" Deidara said finishing her sentence as he started to chuckle. "Its not the only thing I can do. Hm. . ." Deidara said as some of the Possessors went to the explosive clay and disappearing into it. All the leftover clay then started to reform itself into a black bird with yellow eye that Deidara then got on.

"What the?" Naruto yelled.

"See ya! Hm. . ." Deidara said as he started to fly away until. . .

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Gai yelled out doing his signature flying kick, knocking Deidara off his heartless into the forest. "Gotcha!" He said as Lee and Tenten found there way to the others

The possessed clay bird then just stood there, before Deidara took a bite of out it, eating its clay. "Take a look at my ultimate work of art. . . ART IS A BANG!" he said as his body started to expand like a balloon.

Hinata saw that his charka was all gathering to a single spot rapidly. "EVERYONE HURRY, GET AWAY FROM HERE NOW!" Hinata yelled out.

Everyone did as she and got away from him as he was about to explode. "TOO LATE! She said as the explosion was about to hit her.


	25. Chapter 25

Hinata Chronicle Chapter : Gaara's Revival and Return to Konoha

Right when the explosion that Deidara cause was about to hit the group, it just became covered in smoke.

"What's going on?" Gai asked, surprised at what happened.

The smoke then cleared showing that everything got sucked up into what looked like a portal as if the explosion never happened only leaving a small crater. Hinata then took a look at Kakashi, seeing that his Sharingan had changed into unusual form that was new to her. Sakura and Chiyo then came and joined the group both looking they were in a tough battle.

"Finally caught up. . ." Sakura said catching her breath.

Naruto then went up to them. "Sakura. . . the two of you did it. . ."

Chiyo then took in a deep breath. "Yes. . . more importantly. . . what of Gaara?" She looked at Gaara's body that Naruto had on his back. "All. . . right. . ."

". . . What in the world. . . did you do?" Hinata asked.

"Him and explosion. . . I sent them into another dimension. . ." Kakashi said as he started to stubble. "More importantly. . . Is everyone safe?" Kakashi asked as the group then looked at Gaara.

The group then started to head for a grassland, where they laid Gaara on the ground so Sakura could try to heal him, but nothing happened.

"Sakura. . ." Naruto said to her in a serious tone of voice. She then looked at him as she got up to her feet as Naruto started to clench his fist and started to tear at the eyes. "Always Gaara. . . Why was Gaara. . . he's the Kazekage. . . to die like this. . . ! He didn't just become Kazekage. . . "

"Relax. . . Naruto Uzumaki. . ." Chiyo said.

"SHUT UP! IF YOU SHINOBI OF THE SAND HADN'T PUT A MONSTER IN GAARA, THEN NOTHING LIKE THIS WOULD'VE HAPPENED! DID ANY OF YOU EVEN TRY TO ASK GAARA HOW HE FELT? WHAT IS "Jinchuuriki" ANYWAY? YOU JUST ARROGANTLY MADE UP THAT WORD TO CALL THEM!" Naruto cried out.

"Naruto. . ." Hinata said.

Naruto then covered his eyes in his sleeve of his jacket. "I couldn't save Sasuke. . . and I couldn't save Gaara. . . for three years I trained desperately. . . but nothing's changed since three years ago, it has. . ."

Chiyo then went over to Gaara's body and put her hands on his body, emitting a large amount charka.

"LADY CHIYO. . . IS THAT JUTSU! Sakura asked in a worried tone of voice.

"Medical Ninjustsu. . . ?" Hinata thought with her Byakugan activated.

"That's. . ." Gai said.

"Yes. . ." Kakashi replied.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Naruto yelled out.

"She's. . . bring Gaara back!" Sakura explained.

Everyone except Kakashi, Gai, and Sakura was surprised at what she had said.

"Bring him. . . Back to life. . .!" Naruto asked. ". . . Can you really. . . do some something like that. . . ?"

"This jutsu is one that only Chiyo knows. . ." Sakura explained

"This flow of chakra for this jutsu. . . Its gotta be. . ." Hinata thought.

"Guh. . ." Chiyo moaned in pain before continuing. "Not enough chakra. Damn. . .!" she said breathing heavily.

"My chakra. . . Try using it. . . !" Naruto said as he put out his hands. "Can you do that. . . Granny Chiyo?"

Chiyo then nodded her head. "Place your hands on top of mine." Naruto did as she said and started to emit his chakra as well.

"Mine too!" Hinata said as she also put her hands on top pf Naruto's and started to emit chakra as well.

Chiyo then started to smile a little as she encourages Naruto and Hinata to continue forming the bonds of friendship with rival villages her own generation discouraged as she also tells Sakura not to risk her life for an old woman again in the future. "Finally, Naruto. . . this old woman has one a request for you. . . You are the only person capable of understanding Gaara's suffering. . . Gaara understands your suffering, as well. . . please. . . help Gaara for me. . ."

Naruto and Hinata then closed their eyes as they then saw a vision where both of them are with all of their friends in a grass field as five-year olds, Naruto then turns around and starts to run with Hinata right behind her. The two then find a five-year old Gaara crouched down to his legs cry as they both smiled as they put a hand on his shoulder as he looks at them.

". . . Gaara . . ." Naruto said.

"Naruto. . ." Gaara said back to him.

Hinata smiled as the three opened their eyes to see that multiple Suna Shinobi came to rescue Gaara.

". . . This is. . ." Gaara was about to say.

"Everyone was rushing. . . just to save you. . . " Naruto said completing his sentence.

"Welcome back. . ." Hinata said.

Naruto then started to chuckle. "Hey, you put us through a lot. . . !"

Kankurou then started to nod his head. "For sure. You're a little brother I always have to worry about, eh?"

"Hey, don't go getting all complacent! Gaara's still the Kazekage, so don't be so cheeky! You underlings" Temari said giving her glares from both Naruto and Kankurou. ". . . Gaara. . . How are you feeling?" she then asked her brother pushing Naruto out of the way.

Gaara then tried to move but was trembling as he then made a grunting noise in pain.

"You shouldn't be in such a hurry to move. Your body's not to full heath yet."

Naruto and Hinata then started to hear comments from the Suna Shinobi about how they were worried about Gaara, as some girls then started to crowd around him shoving Naruto and Hinata out of the way.

". . . Yeah, I guess I'm still just a genin. . ." Naruto muttered.

"Same here. . ." Hinata said as she started to chuckle as she then went over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Well. . . Seem our friend here got himself a good catch." Kankurou jokingly said.

Naruto then started to chuckle some more as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well guess the cat's out of the bag."

Hinata then started to chuckle to herself as she looked at Temari as she protected Gaara from his fan girls.

"Thank you, Naruto. . ." Kankurou said

"You should really be saying that to the old lady, not me. She saved Gaara with amazing Medical Ninjutsu. . ."

Naruto and Hinata then looked at Sakura with Chiyo in her arms with her eyes closed as if she was asleep.

"She's passed out from tiredness now, but she'll be fine when she gets back to the-"

"No. . . " Kankurou bluntly said.

"What d'you mean "No". . .?"

"Kankurou?" Hinata asked

"That was no Medical Ninjutsu, it was a Tensei Ninjutsu. . . Chiyo is dead."

". . . What. . . Are you saying?" Naruto asked

"A Ninjutsu that restores life. . . In exchange for the user's own. . ." Kankurou said as he then explained more about the jutsu and how it was deemed a "Forbidden Jutsu" and sealed away.

"I should've known. . ." Hinata thought

That when Chiyo's younger brother Ebizo went over to her with a depressed look on his face as Sakura held her. ""I'm just playing dead" I keep expecting her to laugh out and say that. . . Hmm. . . Such a peaceful expression she has now. . ."

Sakura then started to tear for her. ". . . Yes. . ." she muttered

Temari stared at Chiyo body. "Naruto. . . You really are a mysterious person. You have the power to change people. . ." She explained that Chiyo was a person who cared about the future of the village and that she would never have done what she did.

". . . Lady Chiyo entrusted the future to you and Gaara. . . A truly fitting last moment for a shinobi." Kakashi explained.

". . . Yeah. . . Just like the Third. . ." Naruto said.

"That's right. . ."

Yeah. . .I understand the old lady's for sure now!"

Gaara was soon able to stand up, ignoring the pain as she went over to Chiyo. ". . . Everyone, say a prayer for Chiyo."

"Lady Chiyo. . . Thank you. . . For your help, you never be forgotten, because you will eternally in our memories." Hinata thought, smiling at Chiyo before closing her eyes.

(Scene change to back at Suna)

Naruto, Hinata and Sakura were staring at Chiyo's grave stone, giving her one last prayer.

"Sakura, Naruto, Hinata were about to leave now." Kakashi said.

"Right!" Naruto and Hinata said in semi-unison as they both went to their sensei with Sakura a little bit behind them.

At the village entrance the group was about to leave as Gaara and his sibling were about to see them off.

"See ya. . ." Gaara said.

"Y-yeah!" Naruto replied before the two stared at each other for a second. "I guess this when you normally shake hands and part ways but. . . I'm bad at that kind of thing! So. . ." Gaara then brought his hand to shake his.

Hinata smiled as she then saw sand bring Naruto's hand to shake Gaara's hand as they did finally shook hands.

* * *

><p>The group was finally walking to get back to the Konoha when. . .<p>

"Both of you senseis are so slow!" Tenten remarked.

"Ehh. . . Sorry Gai. Because I used that Sharingan, my body won't move. . ." Kakashi explained in an exhausted matter.

"RIGHT!" Gai yelled out as he then put Kakashi on his back. . . piggy-back form with his bag on the front part of his body.

Everyone except Lee looked at Gai and Kakashi with a disturbed look on their faces.

"Uh. . . That's just weird. . ." Hinata thought

"This way, I'll be faster!" Gai said as he then dashed through the sand laughing. "Think any of you can keep up with me?"

"It's even worse when they're moving." Hinata thought.

"Naruto. . ." Lee said in the same look as Gai.

"HELL NO!" Naruto screamed out.

Lee then dashed off after Gai after putting his bag back to normal.

Tenten then sighed in embarrassment. "What will I do with them?"

"How are we going to catch up with them at their ridiculous speed?" Sakura asked.

"I know! We can just fly back!" Hinata delightfully said as she then summoned her keyblade.

"How exactly are we going to "fly" back?" Tenten asked.

"Like this!" Hinata said as she spun her keyblade before throwing it into the air, coming back down being her Keyblade Glider.

Everyone stared at what just happened in amazement.

"COOL!" Naruto screamed out.

"Whoa!" Sakura said surprisingly.

Hinata then got on and started the engines. "Need a lift?" she jokingly ask.

Everyone then got on the glider as she then toke of into the sky. The group then saw Lee dashing through the wood leaving a trail of dust behind him as they could help but chuckle a bit.

"Gotta hand to you Hinata. This is way better then running." Tenten said.

"I'll say! This is awesome!" Naruto cheerfully said. "I was wondering, how did you learn to do this with your keyblade? Did you learn during your training?"

"Truth is, I actually just learned it recently after beating that copy of me from the trap the "Akatsuki" placed. I saw in another vision, but it wasn't Xion, Roxas or Sora who did it but someone I didn't know" Hinata explained.

"That's weird. . ." Sakura said.

"Yeah. . ." Hinata replied. "I wonder who that was. . . He look like Roxas but something was different. . ." she thought as she flew her glider.

(Scene change to back at the desert)

A green hair and blurry red eyed boy with no eyebrow and the Japanese word for hate (zouo) in green writing craved on the right side of his head was standing in the desert with of only a brown cloak. "Who am I?"

A dark portal then appeared in front of him coming out it was a man in a snake-skin hooded cloak. "You seek answers. . . I can give you a purpose. . . Your new name will be the name of the demon of the sand. You will now be. . . Shukaku."

"Shukaku. . ." the green haired boy said.

"That is right- the new you." the cloaked man said, revealing that he has snow white skin, and snake like eyes except they were violet. He then gave Shukaku a cloak like his. After Shukaku got it on, the man told him to follow him.

"Who. . . are you?" Shukaku asked

"I am. . . Chromoruxia . . . My number is 1 and my title is "The White Snake." Your number is 4 and your title is "The Sand Smasher" remember is well. . ." He said as s he smiled and licked his face as the two entered the portal.


	26. Chapter 26

Hinata Chronicles Chapter: Reunions and Meetings

Hinata, Naruto, Sakura and Tenten were flying on Hinata's Keyblade Glider at break-neck speed. Naruto was taking a quick nap on Hinata's back while she was holding off a blush, Sakura was staring at the clouds, lost in her thoughts, and Tenten looked below to see. . .

"N-no way!" she suddenly exclaimed.

Naruto then quickly woke up. "What! What is it! Are we under attack!"

"Naruto that would be impossible for anyone to attack us from her. . ." Sakura pointed out.

Tenten then started to chuckle a bit. "No, no were not under attack." she said then tried to hold in a laugh. "But I think you should take a look at this." she said pointing at the ground.

The three then looked at the ground to see a large amount of dust behind them. A closer look showed them that it was Gai and Kakashi running as fast as they could, Gai screaming out stuff about youth while Kakashi didn't look so good on his back.

Naruto then started to laugh out loud while Sakura and Hinata couldn't help but chuckle. "I can't believe it! We're faster then Super Bushy Brows-Sensei!" Naruto said.

Hinata then saw the Konoha gates in the distance. "I think this is going to be fun." Hinata said. "Hey Tenten?"

"Yeah?" she replied.

"How would Gai-Sensei react if we beat him home?"

"Hmm. . . I don't know actually. Probably surprised. Why-" Tenten said as she then saw Hinata smiling, realizing the meaning behind her question.

Naruto saw her smiling as well, also understand. "How much further? I can't wait to see Super Bushy Brows-Sensei's face when he see us at home before him! He'll probably end up doing something crazy like. . . uh I don't know, 1000 Laps around the village" Naruto then started to laugh again causing the others to laugh as well.

"Almost there. . ." Hinata said as the village gate was closer then ever, she Izumo and Kotetsu at the gate, looking bored out of their minds. "Time to land!" She said as she then stopped right in front of them, shocking them.

"W-what the!" Izumo exclaimed, surprised.

Kotetsu was just shocked out of his mind. "Whoa!" he managed to say.

The four then started to chuckle a bit. "Sorry about that." Tenten said.

Hinata then turned her Glider back to a keyblade as it then disappeared in a flash of light. "I guess we sort of scared you a bit huh?" she jokingly asked. Hinata then activated her Byakugan and sighed. "They'll be here in 3. . .2. . . 1. . . Now!" she said as the four then disappeared, planning to surprise him.

At that moment, Gai with Kakashi on his back was rushing through path to the gate. "Move, move, move! Time for the last burst! Goal!" He said as he quickly then stopped in front of Izumo and Kotetsu. "First Place!" he cried out pointing to the sky. Right behind him, Lee was dashing and yelling as he then stopped right next to his sensei. "And Second Place!"

Izumo and Kotetsu stared at them with disbelief. "Why are they racing?" Izumo asked. "Beats me." Kotetsu said.

"Lee, you need more training!" Gai announced.

"Right! I'll work harder so that I can come in first place next time!" Lee respond.

"Actually, I have something disappointing to tell you."

"Wh-what is it?"

"My poor Lee, you weren't in second place." Gai said as he then spun around as Kakashi's fingers started to point at Lee. "You came in third!"

Lee then stared at him with disbelief and a shocked look on his face.

"Kakashi came-" Gai was about to say when. . .

"Actually! WE came in first, second, third and fourth place!" Tenten said mocking her sensei as she and the others came out right in front of them in a puff of smoke.

Now both Gai and Lee stared at them, both with a shocked look on their faces.

"Its true. . ." Izumo bluntly said, sitting his post.

"Yeah, these guys beat by a lot." Kotetsu said.

"NO!" Gai and Lee cried out as they then started to hug each other, with the sunset behind their backs. Gai then started to smirk. "Oh well then, Lee! You and I will now have to do 5000 laps around the village, immediately!" Gai said as he gave his signature nice guy-pose.

"YES GAI-SENSEI!" Lee cried out.

"Hold on!" Sakura said, stopping the two. "Before we do anything, first you better bring Kakashi to the hospital and then give the report to Lady Tsunade."

"All right then!" Gai said as he then dashed off to the hospital with Lee right behind them.

(Scene change to Kakashi's hospital room)

Naruto was looking at Kakashi as his eyes started to open. "He's awake!"

Kakashi was in a hospital bed, his face covered by the sheets, as he then started to lightly chuckle. " Here's again?" he sarcastically said.

Tsunade and Shizune then came into the room. "Good work Kakashi." Tsunade said.

"My Lady!" Sakura said greeting her teacher.

"Lady Tsunade. . ." Kakashi said as he tried to get up, but couldn't move, causing the sheets to move down a bit.

"Don't force yourself, Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura said.

"I took a look at you earlier. Your going to have to stay in bed for a week. And after you're out, it will be another several days I clear you to go on any missions."

"I had a feeling that would be the case. . ."

"Look like it'll take some time for you master that new Sharingan."

"You're right." Kakashi bluntly said.

"For the time being, don't overdo it and rest up." Tsunade explained

Naruto and Hinata were too distracted as they both tried to see what Kakashi looked like with out his mask on, causing Sakura to glare at Naruto.

Tsunade then turned to Gai's team and told them to rest up, also telling them that they can submit the report tomorrow. "Lets go Shizune." as she then started to leave.

"Right." Shizune replied following her.

"My Lady!" Sakura said following her as well.

"Well, I better find Xion and at least see my father. See you later Naruto." Hinata said giving him a kiss on the cheek as she then walked out of the room. Hinata was then walking through the village, thinking to herself about multiple thing, Hinata then eventually ended up back at the Hyuga estate, her home. "Well, I better let them know that I'm home from a successful mission." she thought as she entered the gates and saw her sister Hanabi, her father Hiashi and strangely Xion was there, watching Hanabi and Hiashi as they sparred each other.

Hanabi appearance changed a lot after her training journey with Yen Sid, she had her hair in a ponytail like Ino did when she was younger, she was wearing a black skin-tight shirt that went to her elbows with a white leather sleeve-less jacket with the symbol of the Hyuga Clan on the left shoulder, the jacket really didn't cover her stomach though, navy blue pant that went to the knees, and was wearing blue ninja sandals. Strangely enough, she body was already getting breast like Hinata when she was that age. When Hanabi saw her sister back from her training journey, she was happy to see her sister after two years.

"Hello father, hello Hanabi." Hinata said as they finished their training session.

"Hmm. . . Oh hey sis!" Hanabi said as she ran up and gave her a hug.

Hiashi and Xion then walked up to her, Xion having a grin on her face. "I'm gonna have to guess that the mission to save Gaara went well?" Xion asked.

"Yeah, we were able to save him and maybe we've even strengthen ties between both Konoha and Suna." Hinata said.

Hiashi then put his hand on his daughter's shoulder and smiled at her. "You've made me so proud. Your friends have brought you more confidence and beauty, your training has brought your self-esteem and strength, and you've gained abilities that no member of the Hyuga clan would have ever been able to obtain."

Hinata was delighted to hear that from her father as she finally felt like she was being acknowledged by her father and maybe even the clan. "Thank you father!" she said as she bowed her head.

Xion walked up her, still smiling. "I'm glad you saved Gaara from the Akatsuki, they must have been strong to take on a Keyblade Master."

"Yes they were." Hinata then turned to her father. "Um. . . I need to talk to Xion alone for awhile, so I will take my leave. Don't worry, we're just going to walk around the village a bit and a maybe get something to eat."

"I understand. Come on Hanabi, it time to continue your training." Hiashi said as he and Hanabi started to head back into the complex."

See you later sis!" Hanabi said as she followed her father.

Hinata and Xion were now walking through the village, when they decided to sit down at a near by bench. "So. . ." Hinata started to say.

"Yeah?" Xion replied.

"While I was gone, did you find anything?"

"Yeah, I stumbled across the area where the Uchiha clan lived."

"I see, did anything happen while you were there?"

"Yeah, even though it was abandon, I thought I heard voices from some where so I decided to look around. The sounds were coming from a crow that was in front the place called the Naka Shrine."

"Interesting. . ."

"Strangely the crow was grabbing on my clothes, like it wanted me to follow it so I did."

"And then what?"

"After I went inside, the crow started to peck at the floor and when I went over to it, it felt as though there was something under it, and it turned there was a stairway under in."

"I'm going to have to guess that you went down there?"

Xion then nodded her head. "Yeah, as I went down the stairs I found a strange room with a weird tablet with some writing on it at the end of the room. I couldn't read the writing on so I decided to go to Tsunade. . ." Xion then got a disappointed look on her face.

"You ok?" Hinata asked worried for her friend.

"Yeah. . . Its just that on the way to see Tsunade, I saw him. . ."

"Who do you mean?"

"The man that Yen Sid warned us about. . . Danzō."

"I see. . ."

"So did anything happen to you on your mission to save Gaara?"

"Actually yes, some things did happen. . ." Hinata then explained what happened during the mission, mainly about Deidara controlling the Heartless and her getting a Keyblade Glider. "Yeah. . . as you can tell the mission was a bit crazy."

Xion then got a look of concern and wonder on her face. "How did someone of this world control the Heartless? Man, this is getting bad. More and more darkness is coming to this world."

"Yeah, but we can make it through it long as we work hard and hone our skills."

Xion nodded her head as the two before Xion decides to go see Kakashi in the hospital, as she gave her a good-bye wave, she headed of towards the hospital.

Hinata was walking through the streets again until she saw Naruto with Shino, Kiba and Akamaru. "Oh yeah! I didn't get the chance to say hi to them when she first got back." she thought as she went up them. "Um. . . Hi guys. . . Long time no see."

"Oh hey Hinata." Naruto called out as.

Kiba then gave her a wolf whistle. "Wow Hinata, Xion was right, you have grown. And you even look stronger."

"Indeed." Shino said under the tree.

"Thank you. By the way, there's something me and Naruto gotta tell you guys."

Shino looked at them as if he knew what they were going to say while Kiba had a confused look on his face. "Really? So what is it?"

Naruto then grinned as he out his arm around Hinata's waist, surprising Kiba that she didn't faint. Naruto then hugged each other as they then started to kiss, causing Kiba's mouth to drop to the floor and for Shino, his glasses almost fell off before he got them, showing his eyes.

"Well. . . I guess you know our secret now." Naruto said as he started to chuckle.

Hinata started to giggle at Kiba reaction. "I'm guessing he is still in shock, I'll handle it. Blizzaga!" Hinata then fire a ball of ice from her hand, hitting Kiba on the head. "Oops I think I went to far there."

"Dang that hurt Hinata." Kiba said as he got back up and stared at the two. "Alright explain this cause I am really confused. I mean, WHEN THE HELL DID NARUTO FINALLY FIGURE IT OUT!"

"Well. . . It happened after Sasuke left the village." Hinata explained.

"Well. . . I'm glad that he finally realized." Shino said as he stepped out the shadows.

Kiba then smirked as he tried to hold in a laugh. "Well, good for you two for finally hooking. Anyway Naruto, I can't go on this mission with you because me, Akamaru and Shino have a mission with Kurenai-Sensei."

"Well alright. Thanks anyway." Naruto said.

"You already have another mission?" Hinata asked turning to her boyfriend.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, Hinata we've got another mission. . . It involves Sasuke. . ."

Hinata gasped as Naruto explained the mission about one of Orochimaru's subordinate being an Akatsuki spy as they walked through the village after saying good-bye to Kiba and Shino.

"I see. . ."

"You alright?" Naruto asked.

"Its just that. . . well. . . what if Sasuke was well. . . You know?"

"You mean turned in to a Nobody?"

"Yeah. . ."

"I don't think he's a Nobody yet. . ."

"What makes you say that?"

"I remember while I was trying to rescue Sasuke, one of his men told me that they would have first trained him before turning him, creating a strong Nobody that would listen to his commands. . . and somehow I feel as though he hasn't been changed yet." Naruto explained.

"Well I hope your right." Hinata said as the two met up with Shikamaru.

Naruto then asked him if he go on this mission as well, but declined because he was in charge of the Chunin exams, complaining that it was all such a drag, that when Choji came in with a lunchbox for Shikamaru, offering to help Naruto and Hinata when Shikamaru pushed the two out of the way while punched out what looked like a lion made of ink. Another one was coming from behind Shikamaru when Choji grabbed it with his enlarged hand, crushing it. Shikamaru then started to look around. "Over there. . ."

The four then saw a strange very pale-white skin, black haired guy wearing a skimpy like outfit, he was holding what looked like a ink brush. Hinata then summoned her keyblade and activated her Byakugan, ready for battle. ". . . I've never seen him before. . . he's wearing a Konoha headband!" Naruto said as he got a better look at him.

"That came out of nowhere. . . I've no idea what he's doing, but that guy needs to be captured. . . and handed over to the Interrogation Squad!" Shikamaru said as he started to send out his shadow. "Me and Hinata will cover you! Go Naruto!"

"Got it!" Naruto said as he dashed off after him.

The strange guy then sent out more of the strange ink like lions, but Shikamaru stopped him with his "Shadow Stitching Jutsu" destroying all of them as Hinata did a Bind spell to stop some of the other ones that Shikamaru missed.

Naruto soon got up to the guy with a kunai in his hand, Hinata couldn't see what was happening, but she stayed prepared just in case. Soon afterwards he jumped into the air avoiding Shikamaru's shadow as he then disappeared in a swirl of ink. "What. . . was that?" Shikamaru asked.

"I. . . don't know. . . maybe-" Hinata was about to say when. . .

"Choji! I thought I'd find you here!" a female voice yelled out.

Hinata turned around to see that it was Ino.

"For crying out loud! Asuma-Sensei's angry that you still haven't shown up!" Ino complained. Ino then turned to see Hinata. "Hey Hinata! Long time no see!"

Hinata then deactivated her Byakugan and her keyblade disappeared in a flash of light as she then smiled at her. "It's good to see you again Ino."

Ino then saw Naruto and started to wave to him. "Naruto! ITS BEEN A WHILE!" she yelled out as he then came back over to them.

"Its good to see you to Ino." Naruto said as he then started to grumble.

"Who was that guy anyway? Attacking out of nowhere like that!" Choji asked.

"I don't know but the next time I see him, he will be captured." Shikamaru said.

"Jeez I can't believe he insulted me like that!" Naruto yelled out.

"What exactly did this guy say?" Ino asked.

Naruto then started to blush bright red in embarrassment as he quickly then whispered something into Hinata's ear, causing her to blush and also get angry. "The nerve of that guy!"

"What! What did he say!" Ino asked getting more concern.

"I don't think you would want to know. It was really inappropriate. Lets leave it at that!" Hinata said. "Oh one other thing we have to do. Right Naruto?"

Naruto then grinned as he and Hinata started to kiss on the lips, causing Ino's jaw to drop and gave Choji a surprised look on his face.


	27. Chapter 27

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 27: Meeting Sai and Preparation

Sakura and Hinata were at the meeting point for the team, Hinata was staring at the sky while Sakura was kicking the dirt when. . .

"Hey Hinata! Sakura!" Naruto called out as he came over to them. He soon stopped in front of Hinata as he then turned his head towards Sakura. "This is where we were suppose to meet up, right?"

Hinata nodded her head as Sakura told him, "Without a doubt!"

Naruto then sighed a bit. "But no one is here yet. Jeez. Did Granny Tsunade really get new members for our team?"

"I guess so if we 're suppose to meet them here." Hinata said

"I'll be okay! We just got here a little early. There's still some time left before we're supposed to meet up." Sakura explained

"Well, I hope they're not late all the time, like Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto said as two people came from behind a pillar, one of them easily recognized by Naruto and Hinata.

"Hiya. . ." the former attacker said.

"Y. . . YOU!" Naruto and Hinata exclaimed in semi-unison.

"Um. . . from now on, Team Kakashi. . . I'll be taking Kakashi's place as. . ." The other man started to explained.

"Naruto, Hinata, do you know this person?" Sakura asked.

Hinata nodded her head as Naruto explained that he attacked them while they were with Shikamaru and Choji.

"Sorry about before. I just wanted to gauge the abilities of my new team members." He then turned towards Naruto. "I just don't know how much I'd look after the little prick with no balls." he explained

A rare but imaginary tick mark then appeared on Hinata forehead. "HOW DARE HE SAY THAT ABOUT MY BOYFRIEND! WHY THIS LITTLE- " Inner Hinata screamed out.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? YOU BASTARD!" Naruto yelled out as he was going to charge the guy but was held back by Sakura.

"HEY HE'S OUR TEAMMATE NOW! COOL DOWN!" Sakura said as she held him back as she then turned to him. ". . . But you're. . . not that nice. . ." Sakura said in a calmer tone of voice.

The former attacker then started to chuckle. "Really? I like people like you, friendly crones."

The imaginary tick mark on Hinata's head then got a little bigger. "THIS GUY IS REALLY PUSHING IT NOW!" Inner Hinata screamed again.

""WHAT WAS THAT YOU ASSHOLE?" Sakura yelled out now she was going to attack him, but was held back by their new captain.

"Hey, remember what you just said to Naruto?" the new captain said as he held Sakura back.

Hinata then went to Naruto. "If he says anything bad about me, don't worry I'll take care of it." she whispered into Naruto's ear as he then nodded his head who had then whispered it to Sakura.

"Could you not be so rude? We're going to working together so I don't think this'll be helpful." Hinata asked the former attacker.

"Oh don't worry, I'll try. . . Cow-Chest." he said.

The imaginary tick mark on Hinata then became massive. "THAT'S IT! HE"S DEAD!" Inner Hinata screamed out. Hinata then turn away. "Don't worry, I'm just going to ignore that." There was then a long silence for a second. "I just got thing left to say. . ."

"Oh? And what would that be Cow-Chest?" he asked.

Hinata then smiled as Naruto and Sakura stepped away from their new teammate. "Thundaga." She calmly said.

The area around them darkened for a second, then a large bolt of lighting then came crashing down out of nowhere zapping their new team member, leaving him charcoaled to black and hair sticking up.

Naruto and Sakura then started to chuckle, trying to hold in a laugh at what Hinata did as a sweat-drop appeared on their new captain's head.

"Well. . . That was shocking. . . I hope it didn't do anything to my penis." the new teammate said.

After a brief introduction, Hinata learned that inappropriate talker was named Sai and their new captain's name was Yamato as he then explained the mission, the five of them will go to Tenchi Bridge to meet and capture an Akatsuki spy that is in Orochimaru's nobody organization to bring back to information on him and Sasuke. "We will assemble at the gate in one hour! After sorting out equipment, we will depart!"

Moments later. . .

"Well, I better go get ready, see you at the gate." Hinata said as she dashed off. "Something about Sai is weird. . . I didn't sense anything from him, no darkness or light. . . Nothing at all. I better tell Xion about this." she thought.

Xion was sitting at the top of the "Hokage Monument" letting the breeze flow through her hair as she though of her times with Roxas and Axel as she then smiled.

"Thinking about them again are we?" Hinata said as she joined her on the monument.

"Yeah. . . I guess you got another mission huh?"

Hinata nodded her head as she explained the mission to her, about Sasuke and information on Orochimaru's nobody. "So you see, I got my work cut out for me for this mission."

"Yeah." Xion said smiling. "This new teammate sounds like a real jerk

Hinata nodded her head as she then realized the time, almost being time to go so she started to leave. "Hey Xion?" she asked.

Xion smiled as she stared at her. "Don't worry. I'll protect the village just in case again and tell you're your father that your going on another mission.

Hinata then nodded her head and smiled. "Thanks. How about afterwards we get some ice cream? My treat."

"Sure!" Xion said happily as Hinata walked to the gate. "Good luck. . . Master Hinata." she thought.

Hinata was soon at the village gate with the rest of her team, she saw Naruto and Sakura giving Sai a dirty look and she couldn't help but also give him a glare.

Yamato look at the four with a small sweat drop running down his face. "Right then! Team Kakashi Departs!"

The five were walking through the woods, all was quiet until. . .

"Please stop staring. Don't make me hit you." Sai said in a monotone sort of voice.

"EVERY DAMN THING YOU SAY JUST PISSES ME OFF MORE!"

"I don't have any malice towards you."

"LIAR!"

"I'm just trying to put on a certain attitude."

"AHA! YOU DO HAVE MALICE! WHY ARE EVEN HERE? ALL YOU DO IS PISS PEOPLE OFF!"

"Naruto. . ." Hinata sadly thought.

Hey, Hey! Don't say something like that right in front of your captain, Naruto." Yamato started to explain. "Teamwork and cooperation are the most important things in a team. I thought Kakashi had already taught you that. Someone like you in a team with the great Kakashi, what is it with you?"

"Is it just me or does this new captain sound like he's a fan of Kakashi-Sensei?" Hinata thought.

"IT'S BECAUSE HE'S NOT A MEMBER OF TEAM KAKASHI! THE OTHER MEMBER OF TEAM KAKASHI IS. . . SASUKE!" Naruto angrily yelled

"I see what this is all about now. . ." Hinata thought as she stared at him.

". . . This guy is. . . Just taking Sasuke's place, someone chosen to fill the gap. I'll never consider someone like him as a teammate!" Naruto explained.

Sai the stared at him a smiled an obvious fake smile. "Well. . . I'm glad you think of me that way. I wouldn't want to be likened to the weak shit-for brains Orochimaru's clone who only cared about power and ran off to Otogakure, betraying Konoha."

"You bastard . . ." Naruto then started to clench his fist as Hinata summoned her keyblade. "Your really pushing it. . . ya know that?" Hinata thought.

Sakura then stepped in stopping the two from trying to attack Sai. ". . .Truly the most important thing is teamwork. Sai. . . Naruto since he doesn't you that well. . . he just said too much. I'm sorry. . . Please forgive Naruto. . ."

"Sa-Sakura. . ." Naruto shuddered.

"Why do I still have the feeling this going to end badly still?" Hinata thought.

Yamato then sighed. "I'm glad at least one of you is reasonable."

"Think nothing of it." Sai said.

"Well. . . That's good." Sakura said smiling. Suddenly out of nowhere, Sakura punched the living daylights out of Sai surprising everyone except Hinata.

"Somehow I knew that was coming." Hinata thought.

"On the other hand. . . me, you don't to forgive." Sakura threaten.

"You fooled me completely. . . that fake smile before. . ." Sai said wiping the dirt off his face.

"Since you don't seem to know anything about Sasuke. . . Don't talk about anything you have no idea of! If you bad-mouth Sasuke one more time I won't hold back. . ."

Sai then started to chuckle as he got up. "Gotcha. . . I won't sat anything in front of you. . . But that you can use a fake smile like that. . . I'll remember that."

"YOU'VE JUST BEEN HIT, WHY'RE YOU ACTING SO CHEERFUL?" Naruto asked.

"A smile's the best way to get out of trouble. Even if it's fake. Amazingly t fools everyone. . . I read that in a book before. It doesn't look like it work here though." Sai explained.

Before Naruto was about to attack, Yamato created a giant wooden prison using a wood style jutsu, threatening to put all four of them in, also talking about that they have to get to Tenchi Bridge but have enough time to go to a hotel with a hot spring for a day, eventually giving everyone a menacing glare, that made everyone agree to go.

(At the hot spring)

Hinata and Sakura were in the hot spring enjoying the hot water, unfortunately Hinata had to deal with some constant glares from Sakura about chest sizes until. . .

"DON'T GO LOOKING!" Naruto shouted from the other side of the spring. "WHY'RE YOU ALWAYS GOING ON ABOUT PENISES ANYWAY?"

This caused Sakura to get a little pissed off while Hinata's eye started to twitch. "THAT IT!" Inner Hinata screamed as she took over. Hinata then went to the border of the hot spring, separating the male and female sections. "THUNDAGA!" Hinata screamed out. On the other side it started to get darker as then a massive bolt of lightning struck, shocking Naruto, Sai and Yamato.

"OH GREAT! NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DONE! YOU GOT ME SHOCKED BY MY OWN GIRLFRIEND NOW!" Naruto screamed out.

"Sorry Naruto!" Hinata called over.


	28. Chapter 28

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 28: Tenchi Bridge, Nobody Arrive

After apologizing to Naruto for accidentally shocking him, the five had a nice dinner and decided to sleep for the night, girls in one room and guys in the other. The next morning Hinata woke up to find that Sakura wasn't in her futon as she then saw her with Sai. "Well I better go to Captain Yamato." She said as she got dressed and waited with Yamato and the rest of the team.

"Ah Hinata. It's good to see that your on time." Yamato said.

"Thank you Captain Yamato." Hinata replied. The two ended up waiting for a few minutes when Naruto, Sakura and Sai came over to them.

"Alright, now that we are all here, we can head out!" Yamato said.

"Right!" The team said as they continued to Tenchi Bridge.

"Listen Naruto, about what happened at the springs, I. . ." Hinata was saying until Naruto kissed her.

"Its alright, you didn't mean to hit me with the Thundaga spell, I just happened to be to close."

Hinata then smiled at her boyfriend. "Thank you, its just that Sai was talking inappropriately about you and your you know 'assets' and I just kind of snapped at him saying those things."

"Like I said, its alright," Naruto then went to Hinata's ear and whispered "We'll get him back once we get back to Konoha." The two then started to chuckle as it then got dark. "Wow, time flies while your walking."

"I'll say!" Hinata responded.

Yamato then went to a clear area in the forest "Here's just fine." He said as he then did a jutsu the built an entire house. "We'll camp here for the night."

"I wouldn't really call this camping. . ." Sakura said as she had a bead of sweat come down her head.

Once inside after looking around. . .

"Everyone, come here for a bit." Yamato announced. "And, Sakura there's something I'd like you to tell me."

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"It's about Sasori of the Akatsuki. I got Sasori's file from Suna as a starter, but tell me about his behavior, characteristic and habits. Because you're the only one who's ever seen Sasori."

"Why're you asking that?" Naruto said.

"The Akatsuki spy I Orochimaru's ranks will come to Tenchi Bridge expecting Sasori. He might see through it right away, but it's best to transform into Sasori to approach him." Yamato explained.

"Being a spy brings its fair share of risks, he will most likely be on his guard." Sai said.

"Just in case this is a trap set by the Akatsuki, I will go ahead first. You will all be on standby waiting for my instructions."

"Given that there was an Akatsuki spy in Suna, Yuura and that he said it when he was about to die. . . I really don't think he was lying. . ." Sakura said.

"Still, that spy. . . He must be extremely skillful. . ." Sai said.

"Whatever happens, I'm ready to do it." Hinata said.

"Let's do this. . ." Naruto said.

"Right, now for the real problem. . ." Yamato said. "I've already told you the concrete plans for the mission up ahead. Our objective is purely capture. Under no circumstances must the target must not be killed. Even if it results in battles. If they are killed we will have lost a valuable information source. This mission is more difficult than simply defeating the enemy. Given that it's a target mission, I'll be the first to go in and you will all act as backup. The strategy is simple. First, I will restrain the target. Second if I fail to restrain them and a battle situation arises, you will all prepare to fight. I'll signal you in that case and if we reach a situation as in part two, then we must fight via buddy system, when one person moves, the other will look after them. The principle of the system is mutual support, but since there are five people here, we'll have to have one group of two people and the other group with three people. Now from what I've gathered, I believe these groups will go well together. The first group will be Naruto and Hinata because of their experience with working together already as comrades. The second group will be myself, Sakura, and Sai because I believe I'll need the medic if I'm injured and Sai's abilities can be used in multiple different ways."

"We can work with that." Naruto and Hinata said in semi-unison.

"I believe I can work with the flat-chest and-" Sai was saying as he then got punched through the wall and passed three trees in the outside woods.

"You should've seen that coming." Sakura said as she cracked her knuckles and everyone else had a sweat drop come down their heads.

When Sai recovered and got back in the building, Yamato continued talking, telling everyone to put their effort into working together as they then went to sleep for the night. The next morning Naruto and Hinata were sparring with Yamato to test their teamwork together and they were easily able to capture him. "Excellent work you two."

"Thanks Captain Yamato." Naruto said.

Hinata smiles at the praise there captain gave them as she then turned to Naruto. "We make a good team."

"You got that right Hinata!" Naruto said as he kissed her on the cheek causing her to blush.

"Now its time for Sakura and Sai." Yamato said as Sakura and Sai started to get ready. Naruto and Hinata watched as Sakura and Sai toke on Yamato as they weren't working well together. After they were done with the simulation. . .

Naruto and Sai had a conversations asking him what a companion is as he writes the word down and talks bad about Sasuke again causing Naruto started to get angry but just brushes off saying that he'll on work with if he can save Sasuke. Sakura then has a conversation with him while Hinata went to go comfort Naruto.

"You ok?" Hinata asked hugging him from behind.

"Yeah I'm alright." Naruto said in a depressed tone of voice.

"Don't let what Sai says get to you. Your better then that."

Naruto then started to chuckle. "I know, I just wanted some support from my girlfriend." he said as he then kissed her on the cheek.

"Enough talking for now." Yamato called out to the two. "We're about to go, so get your stuff."

"Ok!" Naruto and Hinata called out.

"Come on, we better get going. If we're not there by tomorrow, this'll all be for nothing. . ." Naruto told the team.

"Yeah. . ." Hinata said with determination in her eyes.

Soon, the night went by and the dawn of a new day as the group arrived at the Tenchi Bridge. Yamato then got into a perfect disguise as Sasori and waited for the spy to appear as the rest of the team was watching in the bushes when two people appeared one in a blue cloak and the other in a snake-skin cloak.

"Two!" Yamato thought. "Sakura said there was 'a' spy! What's going on?"

"Sakura. . . What's going on?" Hinata whispered. "I thought you said there was only one Akatsuki spy, not two!"

"I. . . I don't know. . ." Sakura whispered, surprised as the rest of them.


	29. Chapter 29

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 29: Nobodies Attack, Fox Unleashed

"This is weird. . . I hope Captain Yamato will be ok. . ." Hinata whisper.

"Same here. . ." Naruto whispered back.

(At the bridge with Yamato and the two unknown caped men.)

"It been a long time, Lord Sasori." The man in the blue cape said as he removed his hood.

"I'll watch out for Chromoruxia. . ." The man in the snake-skin cloak said as he summoned out a giant scalpel that was the size of a small sword.

"Who. . . Are you anyway?" Yamato asked in Sasori's voice.

"Pardon me Lord Sasori," The man in the snake-skin cloak said as he removed his hood revealing. . .

"That's. . ." Yamato, Naruto, and Sakura thought in semi-unison.

". . . It's been five years." Kabuto said as he removed his hood.

"Were you followed. . .?" Yamato asked

"Its that guy from the Chunin Exams! What was his name again?" Hinata asked.

"Kabuto Yakushi." Sakura angrily answered. "But who's the other one?"

"Don't worry, its safe." The man in the snake-skin cloak said. "By the way I'm Xotbaku. . ." The man looked like Kabuto but his face was covered in scars and his hair had brown streaks in it.

Kabuto then sneezed. "Hmm. . . Someone must be talking about me."

"How are you?" Yamato asked as Sasori. "And who is Xotbaku? I commanded you to come alone. . ."

"I still feel a bit shaken from when your technique was released, and I remembered who I really was, although I'm still heavy-headed. And to answer your question about him. . ." Pointing to Xotbaku. "Let's just say that when Orochimaru turned into a creature called a Nobody, he extracted my Nobody out first.

"I knew it. . . Orochimaru did release a Nobody as well!" Hinata thought. "But extracting it out of others. . . is that even possible!"

"Hmm. . . A Nobody huh?" Yamato said in Sasori's voice. "The Akatsuki have heard of them through the grapevine. . ." Yamato lied. "Anyway I have some questions for you."

"Can we finished this meeting soon? Chromoruxia will notice if we're gone to long." Xotbaku said rushing them.

"Alright, tell me about the location of your base and Sasuke Uchiha." Yamato demanded as Sasori.

"We have many bases, to keep from being discovered, we change bases on a weekly basis. There are many bases in countries besides Oto. Orochi- I mean Chromoruxia's spies enter those countries and guide us."

"Currently our base is on a small island hidden to most somebody. We'll be moving from there in three days. Sasuke Uchiha is also there." Xotbaku completed explaining.

"The wind's really strong, I can't pick up anything they're saying!" Naruto complained as he cupped his ears to try and hear the conversation.

"Idiot! That's why we're able to get so close!" Sakura started to explain "Our sound and scent are being carried away by the wind, so they don't know we're here."

Kabuto then went on tell Yamato about stuff that Sasori wanted to know to, making sure not to blow his cover when a portal of darkness appeared at the end of the bridge, surprising the two.

"Crap! He's here!" Xotbaku called out.

"Damn!" Kabuto said, panicking.

"Your conversation sounds interesting, you wouldn't mind if I join you." The voice hissed as a man in a similar looking cloak as Xotbaku came out of the portal. He then took off his hood to reveal a short, black hair with white streaks version of Orochimaru with violet eyes.

Xotbaku then went up to him and kneeled to him. "Lord Chromoruxia."

"Rise Xotbaku. . ." Chromoruxia calmly said as he did what he said.

"Orochimaru?" Naruto and Hinata wondered, surprised at this.

"Ah. . . That cloak. It brings back the memories I have of my somebody, the jutsu obsessed Orochimaru. . ." Chromoruxia calmly said as he looked at Yamato disguised as Sasori.

Kabuto then got ready to attack Chromoruxia when suddenly he attacked Yamato, destroying his disguise, him, Chromoruxia and Xotbaku smirking at this relivation.

"Hmm . . . Interesting as I recall in Orochimaru's memories. . . You are. . ." Chromoruxia started to say.

"Lord Chromoruxia, is that the real Sasori?" Kabuto asked.

"No, I guess you never saw his face before as one of his subordinates."

"No, mainly cause he always hid in those ridiculous puppets." Kabuto explained.

Yamato then started to pant heavily from the wound that he got from Kabuto. "What are you talking about! Kabuto. . . You're suppose to be an "Akatsuki" spy. . . You should have been under the effects of Sasori's jutsu all the while."

Kabuto then started to chuckle. "Ah yes, that jutsu. . . Lord Orochimaru freed me from that before he turned." he explained.

"I wasn't expecting you to change sides, acting as though you were still under the effects of Sasori's jutsu. . . I suppose this means you fell prey to Orochimaru's jutsu then. . ." Yamato said.

"No. . . not exactly. All I fell prey to was Lord Orochimaru's magnificent way of thinking and it then went into Lord Chromoruxia. I chose this path myself." Kabuto explained.

"Beside that, who are you? We came to kill Sasori and extract his Nobody as well, but it seems we can't now." Xotbaku said readying his scalpel sword.

"I'll tell you two about it later." Chromoruxia said as he then started to step forward. "And why don't you get the four from behind you out of their hiding place?

"He must have known along." Yamato muttered as he signaled the others.

Hinata and the other saw his signal and leapt in from their hiding place as Hinata noticed that Naruto's eyes were red and slanted while his canines had gotten sharper. "Don't worry Naruto, I'm here for you." she thought and they land on the bridge.

Kabuto then smirked at Naruto. "You again. . ."

"If what Kabuto said was true , you've interfered with my plans for a while. Especially when I asked Kabuto here to kill Tsunade. Although I do wonder, who is stronger. You or Sasuke." Chromoruxia said, intrigued about Naruto.

Naruto's marks then got more wild and his nails started to get sharper. "Give Sasuke back. . ." He said as his hair the got more wild and his chakra started to appear in a cloak like state.

Hinata then stared at him. "Naruto. . ." she thought in a depressed matter.

"There's no giving back, Naruto. Here let me explain it to you. . ." Kabuto began.

"Sasuke came of his own free will, you really should get over it. Going on like that is hardly behaving as a man. . ." Xotbaku explained.

"Shut up!" Hinata called out as she summoned her keyblade. " "Behaving as a man" my ass! Your a nobody! You don't even exist!"

Xotbaku then just smirked at her. "Aw why do you just shut up you little bitch!" he confidently said, antagonizing her.

"THAT'S IT!" Naruto then sped at a speed so fast that only Hinata could see as Naruto then punched out Xotbaku in the trees on the other side of the bridge as he then went to Chromoruxia who took the hit as he fell into the crevasse below.

"N-naruto. . ." Hinata said. "Fox. . . !" She angrily thought.

A portal appeared and Xotbaku came out of it. "Well that's some interesting power you got their. . ."

"Naruto. . . I see you've developed very nicely as a "Jinchuuriki"." Kabuto said.

Another portal then appeared and Chromoruxia cam out of it as he then started to chuckle. "Magnificent. Your Nobody would be perfect for my Organization. . . He would be a perfect companion for Sasuke's nobody."

"You've what!" Naruto muttered.

"Ah yes, Sasuke's nobody has already been extracted and part of my Organization so far. . . Oh don't worry, he's still alive, we still need him for information about the original Organization XIII. . ."

"H-how many are already in your Organization?" Sakura asked.

"Why, we've already have ten members already and they're just as strong as the original Organization XIII." Chromoruxia explained.

"Ten! He's already gotten ten nobodies!" Hinata thought.

"YOU BASTARDS! YOU'VE NOT ONLY TOKEN A PART OF SASUKE BUT EIGHT OTHERS AS WELL! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Naruto roared out as the Nine-Tailed Fox's Chakra growing into three tails and started to go wild causing forceful winds to rapidly blow and breaking the surrounding area.

"Darn it fox!" Hinata thought as she covered herself from the rocks, twigs and multiple others things coming at her and the other.

"Incredible! This power must become part of the Organization, with this power, we'll easily gain Kingdom Hearts!" Chromoruxia proudly said.

"So that's there plan! They want Kingdom Hearts!" Hinata thought.

Before anyone could reply, Kabuto tried to attack him causing Naruto to roar again, creating a shockwave that blasted him pass Hinata and hitting Sakura and destroyed the bridge.

Xotbaku then went up to is master. "Lord Chromoruxia, I believe I should take my leave." He then made a portal.

"Go, I'll deal with this." Chromoruxia said as Xotbaku went through the portal and disappeared as Chromoruxia went into the forest as Naruto went in after him.

"Sakura!" Hinata yelled as she saw her unconscious about to fall off the destroyed bridge as she dived in after her, spinning her body to throw her keyblade to bring forth her glider as it came and picked Hinata and Sakura before they fell to the bottom. "Whew! Made it!" Hinata said as she then saw Sai on one of his ink birds flying away. "Sai. . . What're you up to!" Hinata thought. "Better not worry about it now. . ." She then flew back up and land near Yamato. "Captain Yamato, watch over Sakura. . . I'll take care of Naruto. . ."

Yamato gasped at what she said. "What! No way! I can't let you do that! It's to dangerous!"

"I can handle it. . ." Hinata said in a serious tone of voice as she got back on her glider. "I promised to protect Naruto no matter what and I intend to keep that promise!" She quickly said as she flew off after Naruto.

"But-!" Yamato tried to say but Hinata then got too far away from him.


	30. Chapter 30

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 30: Naruto and Hinata's Pain

Hinata was flying on glider as she was going to Naruto, who had just sprouted the forth tail and changed into a mini-fox form as he was staring at Chromoruxia as they were both in the middle of a massive crater. "No!" Hinata said as she glided in.

"That power. . . IT MUST BE MINE! Chromoruxia said as he summoned the Sword of Kusanagi out from under his cloak as he charged at him.

Naruto started to roar, as he then stretching his arm at him punching him in the face and created a crater below him.

"Naruto!" Hinata yelled out as she quickly turned her glider back into her keyblade, landing right next to him. "We're are going to have major talk after this is over Fox!" she thought as she looked at him.

"Magnificent. . ." Chromoruxia said as he got back up. "The power of the Nine-Tailed Fox and the power of the Keyblade. . ." He then summoned the Sword of Kusanagi again as he then split it in two, dual-wielding it. "Come!"

Hinata then got into her battle stance. "I hope you don't start attacking me. . . Naruto" She said as Naruto then started to lowly growl.

"Show me your strength!" Chromoruxia said, awaiting for them to attack.

Hinata charged at Chromoruxia with the Keyblade, but Chromoruxia teleported out of the way at the last second. "Darn!" She thought

He then tried attacking Naruto, but he jumped out of the way and swiped at Chromoruxia, who parried with the Sword of Kusanagi. "Yes. . . Show me more!" Chromoruxia swung part of his Sword to try to behead Naruto, "No you don't!" Hinata thought as she fired a Blizzaga at him, forcing him to retreat further into the forest.

"Time for Ragna- oh crap!" Hinata thought as she was about to launch a Ragnarok at Chromoruxia, but Naruto beat her by a mile and prepared to fire a Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Whoa! That's some condensed chakra. . ." Hinata thought. "Well. . . Here goes everything!" she said as she then got on his back and gave the Tailed Beast Bomb some light power as she held on to Naruto, who seemed to be distracted in doing the attacked as he swallowed the ball of chakra and started to expand. "Fire!" she yelled out as Naruto launched the attack, clearing everything in its path.

"That's pretty dangerous." Chromoruxia said as he summoned Triple Rashomon to stop the attack, but the Bomb destroyed all three Rashomon Gates and hit Chromoruxia, leaving two scars in the earth itself.

Hinata then walked up to Chromoruxia, panting heavily, "Any last words!" was about to deliver the final blow, but several snakes appeared to bind her. "Damn it!" Hinata thought.

Chromoruxia then reappeared as he revealed that he shed his damaged body in favor of a newer, stronger body, leaving the husk to take the attack instead of him. "Now. . . YOU DIE!" he said as he prepared to finish off Hinata, Naruto waved his hand and sent a shockwave to knock Chromoruxia off his feet several miles away.

Hinata was about to follow, but found Naruto in a beast-like state. "No. . . I can't see him suffer like this. . . I got to stop him!" Hinata said as then hugged him without letting go even with all the struggling he did as she closed her eyes and entered Naruto's mind.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Hinata was now Naruto's mindscape as she heard chuckling from a familiar fox.

"Yes. . . Boy. . . Kill the snake. . . Destroy him!" Kyubi evilly said.

"Fox!" Hinata angrily said as she entered the area where he was kept as she saw Naruto unconscious inside his seal. "Naruto!" She cried as she went inside and pulled him out. "Come on Naruto wake up! Your stronger then this!" she cried as she started to hold him harder in her grip as she looked at the seal with the Kyubi inside.

"What!" The Fox sarcastically asked.

"You know what!" Hinata yelled out as she summoned her keyblade and pointed it at the seal.

The Fox then started to laugh. "What are you going to do? Attack me! That rich!"

"No. . . I'm not going to attack you. . ." She said in a angry tone of voice as she activated her Byakugan. "But if you ever pull something like this again, I will tighten the seal so well that you won't ever be able to break out!"

"Y-you wouldn't!" The Fox asked, in an scared tone of voice.

"Try me. . ." Hinata said. "I may be a kind person, but if anyone hurts my friends, they will pay!"

(Back in the real world)

Hinata opened her eyes The Fox's chakra starting to recede from Naruto as it went to the center of his body, leaving terrible burns behind as Naruto was unconscious. "Naruto!" Hinata cried out as she then did a Curaga spell on him, followed by an Esuna spell to get rid of the burns. She then looked around to see that Chromoruxia was gone, away from them.

Yamato was dashing to their location with Sakura, who was still unconscious from the hit from Kabuto. "Damn, first Kabuto got away and now I don't sense the Fox's Chakra anymore!. . . Hinata. . . What did you do!" he muttered.

Sakura then started to become conscious as she started to open her eyes to find that she was being piggy-backed by Yamato. "Ugh. . . My head. . ." Sakura said.

"Glad your finally awake. . ." Yamato replied.

"Captain Yamato. . ." Sakura said. "What happened?"

"You got hit by Kabuto after he launched from trying to hit Naruto. . . He and Hinata then went after Chromoruxia. According to my wood clone that watched the entire thing, Naruto's chakra went to the point where he lost control of the Nine-Tails as the two fought Chromoruxia, but strangely Naruto didn't even try to attack Hinata. . . It was like he to distracted in killing Chromoruxia then the urge to attack Hinata. . ."

Sakura then started to cry. "I feel so useless. . . I'm the reason Naruto wants to rescue Sasuke so badly, all just to keep the promise he made to me. . ."

"It's alright Sakura. . ." Yamato started to say. "Everyone makes mistakes, it's one of the many pains that ninja has to deal with. . ."

The two then finally arrived at where Naruto and Hinata were. . . Naruto was rest on Hinata's lap as she watched over him. "Hinata!" Sakura called out as she went over to them.

"Sakura. . . Captain Yamato. . ." Hinata said with a gentle smile.

"Is Naruto alright?" Yamato asked, worried about the Nine-Tails.

"Yes Naruto is alright. I stopped him from rampaging, he's just asleep right now." Hinata replied. "Don't worry about the Nine-Tails, Me and him had a good long talk. . ."

"Good cause I- wait what! What do you mean you had a talk with The Nine-Tails!" Yamato asked, surprised and scared at the same time.

Before Hinata was able reply, Naruto slowly woke up. "Mmm. . . Hinata?" he muttered.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out as she hugged him. "I was so worried!"

"It's alright Hinata, I'm alright." Naruto said as he hugged her back and look around, seeing all the destruction. "I caused this, didn't I?"

"Yeah. . . But remember this. . . No matter what happens, I'll always be there to help you. Besides," Hinata then gave a quick kiss on the lips. "You had some control, mainly cause you didn't attack me at all while you were in that form."

Naruto then smiled at her. "Thanks Hinata. . . You're the best." He then went up her ear. "I was able to hear your threat to that dumb Fox and I gotta say that was pretty awesome." he whispered.

Hinata then started to blush. "Thanks Naruto." She then kissed him again.

Yamato then did a fake cough to get their attention. "Naruto, I'm glad your fine and all, but I've got something to discuss with the three of you."

"Ok Captain. Hey Hinata can you help me up?"

"Sure." Hinata then put his arm over his shoulder and got him to his feet. "There we go."

"Thanks Hinata." Naruto said as he got used to standing on own two feet again.

Sakura then look around to see that there was someone missing. "Where is Sai?" She asked in an angry tone of voice.

"Well. . . That's what I wanted to talk to three about." Yamato said as it drew the attention of the group. "It appears that Sai is moving with Chromoruxia. . ."

Hinata use her Byakugan as she then pointed in the direction of where Naruto fired The Tailed-Beast Bomb. "Chromoruxia was in that direction but it doesn't seem like he's there anymore, but there is some stuff on the ground along with what looks like ink."

Yamato then nodded his at what she said. "Ok, we'll head in that direction and search from there." he command. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement as they started to go over to the location.

Sakura then started to stare at Naruto with a worried look on her face. "Are you sure you are alright?"

Naruto then pumped his fist into the air. "Are you kidding! I feel incredible!"

Hinata then leaned herself into him. "I'm glad your feeling better."

Naruto then kissed her on the cheek, causing to blush. "Thanks Hinata. Your magic was great at healing me!"

Soon the group arrived at the impact zone of Fox Naruto's attack.

"Damn. . . I caused a lot of destruction. . ." Naruto said as he got depressed.

"Don't worry Naruto, you didn't mean to cause this, it was caused by the fox. At least we caused quiet a bit damage to Organization of"The Shinobi Nation"."

"The what?" Sakura asked.

"The name of our world. My master while me and Xion were taining said that each world has it's own name. Ours being "The Shinobi Nation"."

"That name sounds about right. Pretty cool!" Naruto said.

"Interesting. . ." Sakura said as she noticed a scroll with a book under it. "All of Sai's things have been scattered everywhere." she said as she pick up what looked like a picture book.

"What do you think happened?" Hinata asked.

"Well my wood clone was watching what looked like Sai gave Chromoruxia something and then they were discussing something, but he said he couldn't hear it. . ."

"I wonder what they talked about. . ." Naruto asked.

"Yeah, what could it been about?" Hinata though as she then wondered who recommended Sai for this mission. "Uh Captain Yamato?"

"Yes Hinata, what is it?" Yamato asked.

"Who exactly was the one who recommended Sai for this mission?"

"Hmm? Why would you being asking that Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Yamato, you know a man name Danzō?" Sakura asked, surprising Hinata.

"I know him. . . The Hawkish Leader who stood in opposition to the Third Hokage. . ."

"Should've known it would've been that bastard. . ." Hinata thought.

"Who's he?" Naruto asked.

Sakura then started to explain who he was, being Sai's superior, and how he's against the Third Hokage's ideals.

"Umm. . . Xion has meant him before too. . ." Hinata said.

"She has?" Naruto asked.

"Well not directly. . . They walked passed each other but she told me that she sensed a great darkness from him. . ."

"Well being a guy against the peaceful ideals of the Third, he would have a darkness in him. . ." Sakura said.

"It's quiet possible Danzō's relying on Sai. . . to set his own plan into motion." Yamato explained as the group listen. "Perhaps. . . Danzō entrusted Sai with a top secret mission. . . That has nothing to do with our own. . ."

"So you're saying Sai was on a completely different mission from ours from the very beginning?" Naruto asked.

"Just about. . ." Sakura said.

"Sounds about right. . ." Hinata said.

Yamato then sighed. "What I'm about to tell you is no more than conjecture upon conjecture, but it's not out of possibility so. . . Brace yourselves."

Naruto and Sakura looked at Yamato with a concerned look on their faces while Hinata had a serious look on her face.

"Danzō could well be intending to destroy Konoha as we know it." Yamato said as the wind started to blow.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled out.

"Suppose that, in order to remove Tsunade from the position of Hokage he intends to conspire Orochimaru / Chromoruxia to attack the village. . ."

"So that he can build his "ideal" Konoha from the former's ashes. . . and once again take center stage, this time as Hokage. . .!" Sakura explained.

"And maybe the reason he's making his move now may be that Danzō having witness both Orochimaru's failed attack and of his heartless being destroyed, feels the latter's now in position where he's willing to bargain." Yamato explained the ending.

"Maybe Kakashi-Sensei shouldn't have told the council about the Heartless and Nobodies, that information got sent straight to Danzō and that's how he must of figured that Orochimaru became a Nobody as well. . ." Hinata thought.

No. . . No way! Then Sai's top secret mission's. . ." Naruto started to say.

"To earn Chromoruxia's trust, and serve and serve as a liaison between him and Danzō." Sakura said.

"There's something that still bugging me though. . ." Hinata said.

"What would that be Hinata?" Yamato asked.

"Why would Chromoruxia want Kingdom Hearts?" Hinata asked.


	31. Chapter 31

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 31: Theories and Extractions

"That's Chromoruxia's plan?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. . . He said that was his goal when. . . you know. . . the Fox took over. . ." Hinata said.

"Yamato, did Xion tell you the plan that the original Organization had?" Yamato asked. "I heard about the information on the Heartless and Nobodies. . . but I don't know of the plan that they used to create their Kingdom Hearts, mind telling us how they did it?"

Hinata nodded her head. "Of course. I'll discuss it as we go after Sai and Chromoruxia, come on we better get going!"

"Yeah!" Naruto said.

The four then started to dash through the trees as Hinata started to explain the original Organization's plan.

"Alright from what Xion told me about the original Organization's plan, they had used keyblade wielders to destroy Emblem Heartless."

"Emblem Heartless? What's the difference?" Naruto asked.

"Emblem Heartless are the species of heartless that have that symbol on them. You know, the one Orochimaru's heartless had when you me and Sasuke destroyed him. They're the ones that releases the heart of a person that a heartless has taken. They're also the more colorful ones"

"And the other species?" Yamato asked.

"The other type are Pureblood Heartless, they are made from pure darkness like the ones that Akatsuki member we fought summoned. They're usually ink-black in color."

"So why exactly did they want keyblade wielders to destroy these Emblem Heartless?" Sakura asked.

"The reason that Sakura is that they wanted the hearts, they used keyblade wielders as multiple heartless were released into multiple worlds. They collected the hearts and brought them all together to make Kingdom Hearts."

"I see. . ." Yamato said.

"All those people. . ." Sakura said, depressed at what she heard.

"If that Organization plans the same thing I'm gonna smash them all no matter what!" Naruto yelled.

"Calm down Naruto, lets finish this mission and find Sai." Yamato calmly said.

"Yeah, we'll worry about their plan later." Hinata said.

The four traveled until they saw a gruesome sight. . . Sai's body hung at the neck to a branch of a tree. . .

"My god. . ." Sakura said as she covered her mouth.

"W-what does this mean?" Naruto asked, surprised at this.

"You've done it now Chromoruxia. . ." Yamato thought.

Hinata then went over to the body and examined it. "This really isn't Sai. . . it might have been Kabuto's jutsu. . . but to use bodies like this. . . it's sickening. . ."

"Damn. . . I guess they know we're tailing them. . ." Naruto said.

"Yeah. . . From here on, we must be careful, are we clear with that?" Yamato asked seriously.

The three nodded their heads in agreement as they left the body. As they were crossing a lake. . .

"Naruto. . . Hinata" Sakura started to say.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"What's up?" Hinata asked.

"This time. . . We will with Sasuke, the three of us, together. . ."

"I know. . ." Naruto plainly said.

"No question about it." Hinata said.

Meanwhile with Sai, Kabuto, Chromoruxia . . . And two other but their faces were covered in shadows as they sat on a snake statue.

"You're late." One of the voices said.

"Chromoruxia. . . Did you forget about how you said you were going to teach us something new this afternoon. . .?" The other one said.

"You fail to mind your mouth, as always. . ." Kabuto said harshly.

"Calm down you two. . . Sasuke, Ausxeks you will get your training." Chromoruxia said as Xotbaku came out of portal. "Ah Xotbaku, right on time. Take Ausxeks and start training without me, I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes my lord. . ." Xotbaku said as he bowed his.

One the figures then opened his eyes to reveal what looked like a yellow Sharingan with four tomoe seals.

Back with Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Yamato and his wood clone as they got to a grassland with dead-like trees standing in front of a large boulder.

"Here huh. . .?" Yamato said.

"The entrance is right below that rock formation in front of us." The clone said.

"Under these rocks. . . Sasuke is waiting. . ." Naruto said.

". . .Yeah." Sakura said.

Hinata nodded her head as she took a deep breath. "I sense a battle coming. . . and its going to be big. . ."

"Ok. . . Then let's go." Naruto seriously said.

Back with an weakened Sai and Kabuto. . .

"I suggest you rest. . . After what Lord Chromoruxia did, I would take it easy." Kabuto said.

Sai was panting heavily. "I can't believe he did that. . ." he thought.

*Flashback*

(After talking with Sasuke)

"Pardon Sasuke for his attitude, it's just the way he is." Chromoruxia said as he opened a portal of darkness.

"And what would that be for?" Sai said giving a fake smile.

Chromoruxia then grabbed the back of his head as he raised the other hand while it started to glow black. "The coming of a new member. . ." he whispered as he then jabbed his hand into the back of Sai, the hand going into him as it was like water.

"What the-? What is he?" Sai thought as he felt Chromoruxia grab something and started to pull it.

"Welcome Saïx. . ." Chromoruxia said as he pulled out what seemed to be another Sai except with shoulder long-hair as he then threw him into the portal as it then closed and Sai fell to the ground. "The members back at our base will get you accustomed. . ." he then smiled as he called for Kabuto.

*Flashback end*

"Yeah. . . anyway here's your room." Kabuto said as he opened the door and placed Sai on the bed. "Here, take these pills. They'll help you recover from the extraction of your nobody."

"So that's what he took out of me. . ." Sai thought.

Back with Naruto, Hinata, Sakura and Yamato as they started sneak into the base.

"Just like I thought, seems their hideout is surrounded by rock. . ." Yamato said.

"That's nothing, I'll just bust it open with my Rasengan! Naruto said.

"Wait Naruto, if you do that they'll find out that we're here." Hinata said.

Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Hinata's right, infiltration always requires silence. . ." Yamato said.

"then how do we. . .!" Naruto was about to ask.

Yamato then did a wood-style jutsu in a small crack, and created a small hole.

"Well at least we've succeeded with the infiltration part." Sakura said.

"We'll first look for Sai." Yamato said as he started to concentrate. "This way."

After a bit of sneaking. . .

""All clear. . . let's move." Yamato said.

The four were rushing through the base.

"Just a little further." Yamato said as he got to a door and started to open it. "And look who we have here." Yamato said as he saw Sai in the room, resting on the bed. The four then entered the room.

"The Hokage-controlled Anbu, impressive as always to think that fake corpse wouldn't fool you. . ." Sai said as he got up, giving a fake smile.

Hinata then looked at him. . . and felt something different about. "Something's missing. . . but what?"

"YOU! WHY DID YOU BETRAY US!" Naruto yelled, grabbing his collar.

"You shouldn't make too much noise here I'll mean trouble." Sai said with the fake smile.

"WHY YOU!"

"Naruto!" Sakura seriously said.

After a brief while Naruto let his collar go and turned away.

"Here. . . we found this. . . It's yours I believe?" Sakura said, giving him the picture book.

"Thank you." Sai plainly said.

"Danzō gave you orders, didn't he? He's trying to ally with Orochimaru/Chromoruxia, isn't he? So what's he plotting?" Sai frowned.

"He's plotting Operation: Destroy Konoha, Take Two, isn't he?" Yamato asked.

Sai smiled again.

"No…you're-" Sakura started to say. . .

"I should've figure. . ." Hinata thought staring Sai with a glare.

Sai shrugged. "Well…now that you've finally figured me out. . . seems my mission is officially a failure. But since I can't take you all on, and since you've guessed so much already, there's no point in hiding the truth any longer." "You are correct. The plan was to get rid of Konoha, as we know it."

There was silence.

"My assignment was to find an opportunity to approach Orochimaru, and entice him to help destroy Konoha."

Yamato pointed a kunai at the ROOT member. "Keep talking."

"What more is there to know?" Naruto burst out. "He's-"

"Do not rush to judge, Naruto, until you have allthe facts."

"He's right Naruto." Hinata said as she summoned her keyblade and pointed it at Sai. "Keep talking. . ."

Naruto stopped. "Alright Hinata. . ."

"I was ordered to secretly report Orochimaru's activities to Danzō…in short, to act as his spy."

"Enter into a conspiracy with Orochimaru, while playing him at the same time?" Sakura asked. "That's an extremely dangerous game. . ."

"Well," Sai said with a smile. "If Konoha did fall, we expected Orochimaru to betray us at some point, anyway, so. . . consider this way of maintaining the upper hand."

"So Danzō wants Konoha for himself," Sakura said.

"Indeed." Sai said.

"Damn. . ." Hinata thought.

"If Konoha falls, a lot of people will die!" Sakura shouted. "Do you have any idea of the consequences of what you're doing?"

Sai shrugged. "Well…I'm just following orders. . ."

"Sai. . ." Sakura said in disappointment. "How could you. . ."

"Oh," Sai said. "And 'Sai' is just a name I was given for the purposes of this mission. I'm actually nobody." He closed his eyes. "I am merely an extension of Danzō will. I myself do not exist. Therefore, it's useless to say anything to me."

"Your wrong. . ." Hinata said. "You're a human being! Not some tool for someone else's own use!"

Sai looked at Hinata. "Well I guess that's true now since my Nobody was ripped out of me. . ."

"What!" Hinata said, surprised at what he just said.

"Are you saying that-?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Chromoruxia has already taken my nobody out and recruited him to his Organization." Sai said as he smiled. "I guess this proves I am human. . ."

The four then glared at him as Yamato ensnared him in a wooden prison and they took him out of the base.

"Unfortunately Sai. . ." Yamato said glaring at him. "We're going to have to leave you here with my clone watching you."

Naruto then slammed his fist into his palm. "Now to go get what we came here for. . ." He started to look back at the base. "It's time to rescue Sasuke!"

"And what if he doesn't want to be rescued?" Sai said. "I…actually met him. . . and his nobody"

Naruto and Hinata's eyes widened.

"Even though Sakura told me you think of him as a brother…Sasuke told me you mean nothing to him."

Sakura lower her head in shame.

"Do you still care so much?" Sai asked. "Why stand up to the likes of Orochimaru, only to save someone who doesn't want to be saved? Why? It's not like anyone's ordering you. . ."

Naruto looked up to the sky, wearing a smile. "When I first met Sasuke, I couldn't stand him," Naruto said. "But at the same time, I also really enjoyed being around him. . . after all, he really accepted me more than anyone else." He paused. "I'm doing this because Sasuke is my friend. . . and that's a bond that can never be broken."

Sai's eyes widened. "Bond. . . but still. . . to go against Orochimaru?"

Naruto grinned. "If he tears my arms off, I'll kick him dead. If he tears my legs off, I'll bite him dead. If he tears out my neck, I'll glare him dead. And if he pokes out my eyes, I'll curse him dead."

"And that's what I love about him," Hinata said. "His will to never give up." She then kissed him on the cheek. "No matter the situation, he will never give up on what he says."

"Thanks Hinata." Naruto said grinning before he got serious. "I'm going to Sasuke back from Orochimaru no matter what!"

Once my clone's ready we're going." Yamato said until the four sensed a presence coming when they quickly dodged multiple shrunken.

Kabuto then landed in front of Sai. "Sai. . . judging from your stiuation I suppose this means you were captured."

"That's it. . . I've had it with him!" Hinata thought as she quickly took a step and disappeared. . . right behind Kabuto.

"What the-?" Kabuto was about to say.

"SLEEP!" Hinata said as Kabuto and Sai then fell unconscious and started snoring. "Captain Yamato, can you please come over here and tie him up? He's really bugging me."

Everyone then had a sweat drop at what just happened.

"Uh sure." Yamato said as they went over to the sleeping Kabuto and Sai.

"Go Hinata!" Naruto said. "I'm really like your girl kit." The fox said.

"Thank you." Hinata said, blushing.

"A sleep spell. . . huh should've figured there would have been a spell for knocking others out as well." Sakura said with a sweat drop.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Hinata said as a clone of her appeared.

Sakura's jaw then to drop. "When did you learn that!"

Naruto and Hinata then chuckled.

"I thought it to her before we both left on our training journey." Naruto said.

"Trust me it was difficult but I can only make one stable clone." Hinata said.

"Me and Yamato's wood clone will keep an eye on these two. You guys go and find Sasuke." Hinata's clone said.

"Alright, lets go." Yamato said.

Naruto, Hinata and Sakura nodded their heads as they reentered the base.


	32. Chapter 32

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 32: Battle in the Mindscape

"We'll split into two teams to search for Sasuke, Sakura and I will form one and Naruto and Hinata will form the other." Yamato said as the three nodded their heads as he explained the rest of the details and they separated to search for Sasuke.

(Meanwhile with Hinata's and Yamato's clone, along with the awaken Sai and knocked out Kabuto)

Hinata's clone is meditating while Yamato's clone was watching the two.

"I'm still curious about something. . ." Sai suddenly said to Hinata.

Yamato then glared at him. "What is it?"

"Why do you want to rescue Sasuke? I thought Naruto was your boyfriend."

Hinata then smiled at him. "It's not that I like Sasuke or anything, it's just that I want to prevent any more people falling into darkness and besides me and Naruto made a promise to each other."

"A promise?" Sai asked.

"Yeah. For the both of us to get stronger and save the ones we care about. For Naruto it's Sasuke and for me it's my cousin Neji who both have fallen into a deep darkness." She then closed her eyes and reopened the with a powerful courage in her eyes. "We both care for them dearly and we will do anything to save them no matter." She said as Sai's eye widen as he saw the determination in her.

Kabuto then slowly woke up as he heard the conversation. "And what makes you think you can save them?" he said as he started to chuckle.

"Well look who's awake." Yamato said as he tightened the wood around him. "Once this mission is complete, your coming back to the village with us."

Kabuto then started to chuckle again. "Oh really?" He sarcastically said as an aura of chakra appeared around him, except that there was also an aura of darkness around him.

"Captain watch out!" Hinata said as Kabuto broke out of the wood as he headed straight for him, pushing him out of the way as she herself got out of the way. "Darn! We let our guard down for one second. . ." She thought as the three were at a stand-off.

Kabuto then went and released Sai. "Since it doesn't seem you've betrayed us. . . I'll trust you for now." He then turned to the Hinata and Yamato clones and smirked at them. "Now to get rid of a few pests."

"Right we're the pest. Coming from the guy working for a madman." Yamato's clone as he got into a battle stance.

Hinata then got into her Hyuga stance not bring her out her keyblade. "This the only other problem with Shadow Clones with me. . . They can't summon the keyblade." She thought. "But I can still use my magic." Hinata's clone then dashed into Kabuto, trying to attack a chakra point but failing.

"Pathetic. . . " Kabuto said as he dodged her attacks and noticed that Sai dashed back into the base. "What the!" he thought as he got distracted.

"Now!" She thought as she was able to hit some of the major chakra points in his arm. "Stopga!" As on instant, Kabuto completely stopped moving as he stood their in place.

"I'm not even gonna ask." Yamato's clone said as he restrained him. . . again. "Damn! Sai got away. I'll tell my real self."

"Alright." Hinata's clone said as she saw that Sai dropped his bag, leaving behind a black book but not the picture book. "I guess he didn't want to leave it behind this time. But that book. . ." she thought as she went over and took the book out. "Oh no. . ." she said as looked through the book wide eyed.

Yamato's clone heard her. "What is it!" He then took the book at the book. "This is. . ."

"Yeah. . . Tell the others quick!"

Yamato then nodded his head.

(With Naruto and Hinata)

"Come on!" Naruto said as they dashed through the halls. "We gotta find him!"

"I know!" Hinata said.

Suddenly a large explosion happened with a massive flicker of lights.

"What the!" Naruto said as rush over to the source.

"Hurry!" Hinata said dashing along side him. "What do you think could have caused that explosion?"

"I don't know, it must have been someone powerful. . . be prepared incase its-"

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah. . ."

"Don't worry I'll be alright. You too ok?"

Naruto then nodded his head in agreement as they soon got to the source of the explosion, someone had blown up the entire area and the sun was shining in, there stood a lone figure.

"Hinata!"

Hinata nodded her head as she activated her Byakugan. "Sai? But how!"

"We'll worry about it later!" The two then rushed to where Sai was as Naruto grabbed his collar. "Alright you! What's all this about? I gonna-"

"Naruto. . .Hinata"

"That voice. . ." Naruto and Hinata thought as they then looked up at the source, on the ledge above them looking down on them was a familiar face.

"Uchiha. . ." Hinata said.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said letting got of Sai.

Hinata then noticed Sakura and Yamato rushing over to them and Sakura grabs Sai's collar.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU AFTER! YOU MAY HAVE ESCAPED BEFORE BUT TH-"

"Ah Sakura too huh?" Sasuke said.

Sakura then turned her head to see Sasuke and became wide-eyed.

"Does this mean Kakashi's here as well?" Sasuke asked as Yamato explained that he was taking his place.

"Team Kakashi huh?"

Sai then pulled out his Tantō.

"SAI! I KNEW IT!" Sakura yelled out.

"Huh?" Naruto and Hinata respond.

"I'll explain later." Yamato said.

Hinata then went over to Naruto. "I sense a very powerful darkness in him. . . Be careful." she whispered as Naruto nodded his head

"So he's my replacement then is he?. . ." Sasuke started saying. "He was sprouting nonsense about protecting the bond between Naruto and me. . . one pansy for the group, quite the fit I'm sure."

"Huh?" Sakura said as they all turned towards Sai.

"It is true, my top-secret mission was to indeed the assassination of Sasuke. . ." Sai began to say.

"What!" Naruto and Hinata said, surprised at what he said.

"But those orders don't matter anymore, I want to think for my self and act for myself. . . because of Naruto and Hinata, I feel like I might be able to remember something. . . remember how to feel. . . something which can't help feeling was very important to me. . . I may not know you all that well. . . but there's a reason why Naruto, and Sakura chase after you with so much passion. . . in order to prevent their bond with you from breaking. . . in order to keep them intact, they're doing everything they can."

"Sai. . ." Hinata thought, smiling.

"I still don't have a very good understanding of it myself, but you Sasuke should know why." Sai said as he made his glare more serious.

Sasuke then just stared back them with emotionless look. "Sure, I did know and that's why I served them."

Naruto and Sakura gasped as Hinata and Yamato glared at him.

"I have other bonds I carry. . . fraternal bonds, forged through hate. . . having too many bonds causes one to lose focus, weakening their strongest wish, their greatest desire,"

"That's not true. . ." Hinata muttered.

"If that's true. . ." Naruto muttered. "If that's true, then why. . . WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL ME BACK THEN! IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL SEVERING A BOND! SASUKE!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto. . ." Hinata said.

". . . The reason is simple. . . and it isn't that I wasn't able to sever my bond my bonds with you. . ." Sasuke said with his eyes closed. After a few seconds, he reopened them. "I simply didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me attain power by submitting to his plans."

"What!" Hinata asked, confused at what he said.

"What do you mean by that!" Naruto asked.

"There's no need for me to tell you. . . still, the one thing I can say to you. . . is that back then. . . I chose to spare your life at no more than a whim of mine. . ."

Suddenly Sasuke was right in front of Naruto, looking pass him.

"Fast!" Hinata thought.

"Come to think of it, isn't becoming Hokage a dream of yours. . .? Sasuke said into Naruto's ear. "If you had the time to go around looking for me, you would've been better off training. . . don't you think. . . Naruto?"

"S-Sasuke. . .!" Sakura muttered out,

"And that's why this time. . . you're going to end up losing your life, all at a whim of mine." Sasuke said as he pulled out his sword.

Naruto stood in place as Sasuke fully go his sword out. "How could I ever be Hokage. . . If I can't even save one friend?"

(After a brief scrimmage)

Naruto squinted, his vision blurring. Yamato grunted, Sasuke's sword still running electricity through his chest and body.

"I better get in their!" Hinata thought as she closed her eyes.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto was staring at the seal as The Fox grinned, its maw bubbling and foaming.

"What is it? Who do you want me to kill?"

Naruto shook his head. "Don't ever come out again!"

"Oh? What are you so afraid of, boy?"

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted. "I'm not afraid! I don't need anything from you!"

The Fox's burst into laughter. HAH! This isn't the first time you've come to me for help! You're nothing without me, and you know it! Now…release the seal once and for all! Do it, and my power shall be yours!"

Naruto held up a hand. "Get lost!"

The Fox's eyes widened. "Who are you?"

Another hand reached out to touch the Fox's muzzle.

"Ah so you're an Uchiha. . . Allow me to congratulate on making it this far. . ." The Fox said.

"Why are you here. . .!" Naruto asked.

"My eyes can see everything. . ." Sasuke said. "So. . . This is the source of your strength." He smirked. "I never imagined you had such a thing inside of you. . ."

"You can actually see me," the Fox growled. "Thanks to that abominable Sharingan. . . a product of your cursed bloodline."

"Seems this isn't your first encounter with these eyes," Sasuke remarked. "Which means…you must be the Nine-Tailed Fox."

The Fox sneered. "You ocular powers. . . and that chakra you exude. . . they remind me of Uchiha Madara."

Sasuke was about to grab the Fox when he smirked. "Interesting, I never expected you to be in here too. . . Hinata."

Hinata was standing behind him, keyblade at the back of his neck. "You've really fallen. . . huh Sasuke? I can see the darkness on you. . ."

"Hn. . ." Sasuke said as he clashed his blade with Hinata's.

"Hinata!" Naruto said as he was about to charge when the Fox stopped him by trapping him a chakra prison. "Now what fox!"

"Let her handle this. . . I want to see how this ends." The Fox said as he started to watch.

"Freeze!" Hinata launched a Blizzaga to distance Sasuke.

Sasuke retaliated by firing a Chidori at her melting the Blizzaga.

"Defense!" Hinata quickly threw up a Reflega to send Sasuke's attack back at him, but

Sasuke used his sword as a lightning rod and performed Chidori current, protecting him from his own attack. "Hn. . ."

"He's strong. . ." Hinata thought as she ran forward and tried to use her Gentle Fist: Lion's Raid which hit his left arm, but Sasuke was far from deterred. "Won't go down that easily." Hinata muttered.

"Chidori Light Blade!" He said as he used his right arm to relentlessly attack Hinata with his lightning-infused sword.

"Gotta. . . counter. . . his. . . moves!" Hinata said as beat every strike with her Keyblade, then readied herself to perform Ars Arcanum "We're equals in strength. . ." Hinata thought

"Take this!" Sasuke then plunged his sword into the ground and performed Chidori current through the ground.

"Dodge quick!" Hinata jumped in the air "Let's try something new!" She thought. "Hyuga Arcanum!" She called out as infused her chakra into the magic in her keyblade, creating a sphere of magic-infused chakra to form at the Keyblade's end. "Take this!" She said as she released the attack, the sphere then broke apart into sixty-four smaller spheres.

"Whoa!" Naruto said as the spheres started to hit Sasuke in multiple spots.

"Now for the second part!" Hinata thought as she then got into a stance and started to concentrate. "It's time to end this Sasuke!" An aura of blue light then appeared around her as it then reshaped itself into a lion.

"Interesting. . . Maybe I can help her out a little. . ." The Fox muttered as he then sent some of his Chakra to Hinata, strengthening her attack, the light turning red and remold into a fox.

"Why Fox?" Naruto asked, both confused and surprised at what he did.

"Hey, I rather have the Hyuga win then the Uchiha win. Besides, she IS your girlfriend!"

"Good point." Naruto said as he turned to Hinata and started to cheer for her. "DO IT HINATA! TAKE HIM DOWN! WE'RE BRING HIM BACK NO MATTER WHAT!"

"RIGHT!" Hinata called back and rushed into him, striking him with the enhanced keyblade as every time it hit him, the sounds of a fox roaring was heard. "FOX ARCANUM!" She cried out, delivering the final blow, knock him out of the mindscape.

"Ok, She's completely gained my respect now!" The Fox said a sweat drop went running down his head.

"Yeah. . ." Naruto said as he smiled at her as she did a Curaga on herself.

(Back in the real world)

Everyone was at a standstill, waiting for someone to more when suddenly. . .

Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke, gasped for air.

"Got him out but. . ." Hinata muttered.

"Still won't quit. . ." Naruto muttered.

Yamato then took the opportunity to try and restrain Sasuke but he got away from him as jumped back to the ledge where he was before.

"Sasuke. . ." Naruto said, panting heavily.

"Well it seems like your having a tough time, eh Sasuke?" A new, serious tone of voice said.

A portal of darkness appeared next to him as a man in a snake-skin coat appeared next to him.

"Great! Another enemy?" Naruto muttered as he then saw Sai wide-eyed at him. "What is it Sai!"

"It's him. . . It's Sasuke's nobody. . ." Sai muttered as the group gasped at what he said.

Sakura then looked at him again to see what looked like a yellow Sharingan. "S-Sasuke?"

The figure then remove his hood to reveal a sandy colored, slightly longer haired Sasuke. "So that's the keyblade wielder, Hinata Hyuga." He plainly said.

"What do you want Ausxeks?" Sasuke asked.

"Lord Chromoruxia asked me to get you, so here I am. Let's go." Ausxeks also said plainly as he then turned to the group. "Oh by the way, we already took back Kabuto as well. Later." He said as he grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and the two disappeared into smoke.


	33. Chapter 33

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 33: Return and Discussions

The five were in Tsunade's office after they returned to Konoha failing at getting Sasuke back, Yamato finished explaining what happened.

"I see. . ." Tsunade said as she stared at the team. "Well?"

"We're not giving up!" Naruto said as Tsunade chuckled as she was about to give them another mission.

"Actually Lady Tsunade, I have do go discuss something with Xion. You know Keyblade wielder related things." Hinata said.

"I understand. You can go for now, but be back for the mission, Naruto will send a clone for you." Tsunade said.

"Ok, thank you my lady." Hinata said as she left. She was soon found Xion on the ledge of the Hokage monument, having a sea-salt ice cream. "Hey Xion." Hinata said.

Xion turned to see Hinata as she sat next to her. "Oh hey Hinata." Xion said as she gave her an ice cream. "Here!"

"Thanks." Hinata then took the ice cream as the two started to eat.

"So. . . What happened on the mission?" Xion asked.

"Well. . . a lot happened. . ." Hinata said as she rubbed the back of her head and told Xion what happened, from Sai's secret mission, the new Organization, Chromoruxia's ability and Sasuke and his nobody appearing.

"So. . . Your suspicions were right. . ." Xion said as they finished the ice cream. "Damn. . ." she angrily said.

"Yeah. . . This new Organization. . . They're strong. . ." Hinata said. "So what do you think we should do about it?"

Xion thought for a minute. "Training. . . more training to prepare for them. "

"What do you mean?"

"I think. . . that we should fight the data Organization members again."

Hinata gasped at what she said. "Are you sure!"

"Yeah, but it won't be just us fighting them, Any of us could have to fight them so. . ."

"You don't mean?"

Xion then nodded her head. "Yeah. Naruto, Sakura, Sai and the other members of your class should have experience fighting them."

"But isn't that dangerous Xion! They were extremely tough and I don't want my boyfriend to get hurt!"

"Listen, they need to have experience fighting powerful nobodies, and the data versions of the Organization members are the strongest nobodies besides the originals."

Hinata was silent for a moment. "Yeah. . . but. . . do you really think they can do it?"

Xion nodded to her as she then smiled at her. "Of course they can! They're your friends and don't forget, you have strong bonds with each of them."

Hinata smiled at the complement. "Yeah, your right Xion. They can do it."

The two then got off the ledge as they started to head back.

"Hey Hinata!" A voice called out.

Hinata and Xion turned to see that a clone of Naruto appeared. "Oh yeah, I got another mission. Don't worry Xion, we'll discuss this with Kakashi when we get the chance. See you when I get back. . . again." Hinata said as a sweat drop appeared.

"Ok!" Xion said as Hinata ran off, following the clone to the real Naruto.

(After the unimportant mission, Naruto, Hinata, Xion, Sakura and Sai were all visiting Kakashi in the hospital after properly introducing Xion and Kakashi to Sai)

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto said awkwardly, unsure of how to reply to his bedridden mentor. "On our mission, we. . ."

"Yamato told me everything," Kakashi said, not once looking up from his book. "All about Sasuke, too…"

Naruto scowled "That new Organization is just using him for information even though they are training him!" He shook his head. "Right now, I'm nowhere near strong enough to bring Sasuke back. He's become too strong." He clenched his fist.

"Well, in that case," said Kakashi placidly. ". . .You'll need to get stronger than that."

Naruto blinked.

"Yup, great minds think alike." Hinata thought as she turned to Xion who was smiling.

"As I see it," Sakura cut in. "Sasuke's rate of maturation isn't ordinary. According to Lady Tsunade, they may even be augmenting his training with drugs and forbidden jutsu. . . courtesy of Kabuto, of course."She shook her head. "But how can we match that?"

Kakashi let his eyelids slide down a bit. "You think I've been doing nothing this whole time? I've been brainstorming. . . and that's how an idea came to me-"

"Actually Kakashi. . ." Xion said, interrupting him.

"Hm? What is it Xion?" Kakashi asked.

"Well. . . I thought of a training method that might help as well and it would include all of us. And by everyone, I mean everyone in Hinata's class that became ninjas, including Tenten, Lee and including Sai here."

"Really? What exactly is it?" Kakashi asked, intrigued by the sound of her plan.

"I think we should discuss this with the other to see if they will take part in it and Lady Tsunade to get her approval." Xion said as she then started to leave.

"What is it exactly?" Naruto asked.

"I'll tell you guys at the 'Training Field'. Gather your friends and Tsunade." Xion said. "See you there." At that moment Xion was gone.

"What an interesting girl." Sai said.

"Hinata do you know what it's about?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe. We'll just have to see." Hinata said smiling as she turned back to Kakashi. "Anyway, back to your plan Kakashi-sensei."

"Right. This is mainly a training method for Naruto and if he successes he might be able to surpass me." Kakashi said, causing a gasp from the group.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Surpass you, Kakashi-sensei?"

The jonin nodded. "That's right. I'll be working with you one-on-one, and it'll be training like you've never done before."

"Whoa!" Hinata mutterer. "With the data Organization battles training, and training from Kakashi, Naruto can be a great ninja." She thought.

"Never. . .?" Naruto breathed. "How. . .?"

Kakashi looked straight into Naruto's eyes. "We'll create an ultimate jutsu, specifically for you and will be even more powerful then the Rasengan"

"Wow Naruto! Your own jutsu! And one stronger then the Rasengan!" Hinata said as she kissed him on the cheek.

Naruto then smiled at his girlfriend. "Thanks Hinata."

"But in order to attain it, you'll have to train with an intensity unlike any you've ever known. It's not like some character in a novel," Kakashi said, glancing down at his book. "You can't get stronger in just a few days. And it won't be a preexisting jutsu like the Rasengan, either, one that we can break down to simpler stages."

"But we don't got time! With that new Organization and the Akatsuki, training will be to long!"

"That's why I figured out how to do it in a short period."

Naruto's eyes shot wide open. "W-what? How?"

"I'll tell you after we talk to Xion about her plan and-" Kakashi was cut off as the door opened.

"The colors finally returning to your face, Kakashi. . ."

"Asuma-Sensei. . . we shouldn't just barge in like this. . ." Ino said as Choji was munching on some chips.

"Naruto. . . Sakura. . . Hinata. . . that was quick. . . you guys back from the mission already-" Shikamaru was saying until he saw Sai.

"Oh boy." Hinata thought as she had a sweat drop as the others explained what happened before.

After the quick introductions the group decided to head over to Yankiniku for some food. At the restaurant. . .

"So come on Hinata. You gotta tell us. What's Xion's plan that involves all of us?" Naruto asked.

"Let's just say it's very special training for all of us. She'll explain it at the 'Training Field'."

After the lunch went by and Kakashi was out hospital, everyone from Hinata's class that graduated, including their senseis for their teams, Tsunade, Tenten, Lee, and Sai arrived at the 'Training Field' as they waited for Xion and Hinata. Shikamaru was complaining about everything was troublesome while Choji was munching on some chips and Ino was trying to get near Sai again. Tenten was polishing her weapons while Lee and Gai were once again saying stuff about youth. Shino was standing under a nearby tree while Kiba was chatting with Naruto. All of their senseis and Tsunade were patiently waiting for Hinata and Xion.

After about 15 minutes, Xion and Hinata got to the field to see that everyone was there.

"Well Xion, time to tell them your plan. . . nervous?"

Xion swallowed hard. "Yeah. . ."

"Just calm down. . . You can make it through this." Hinata said smiling at her.

Xion smiled back her. "Thanks Hinata."

"Hey Hinata, Xion!" Naruto called out as they went over to everyone.

"Looks like your feeling better, eh Kakashi?" Xion asked.

"Yup, so anyway. . . Your finally gonna tell us your plan, right?"

Xion nodded her head as she called everyone to pay attention. "Alright, well it's good to see everyone here on such short notice. What I'm about to tell is bigger then any threat your world has dealt with and shouldn't be taken lightly." Xion then toke in a deep breath. "I believe that Hinata has told you some of the things that happened on the recent mission involving Sasuke right?"

Everyone except the team that was on the mission and Kakashi nodded their head.

"Good, then I should have to explain that we got a new threat to deal with besides the Akatsuki. . . Chromoruxia's Organization."

"So that's the name of Orochimaru's nobody huh?" Kakashi said. "Interesting. . ."

"Yes Kakashi-Sensei, and trust me when I say that he was indeed powerful." Hinata said.

"Anyway back to the topic at hand. You guys remember when me and Hinata left on our training journey right?"

"How could I forget! Me and Hinata shared a passionate kiss before we separated!" Naruto blurted out, causing the two of them to blush. "Actually, I was wondering about something back then. Why was Hinata in the black coat like one of the old Organization XIII members?"

"I was getting to that." Xion said. "The day that me and Hinata left for our training journey, we went beyond traveling this world."

Everyone practically gasped at what she said. "Are you saying that-?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, we went to another world. It was the reason I wasn't around for awhile after the failing to bring Sasuke back to the village. I had to plan our training journey."

"So what does this have with now?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll take over Xion." Hinata said as she stepped in front of Xion and turned to everyone. "Well. . . This is about a choice that needs to be made. . . But for our group, "Konoha 10 and Sai."

"What!" Everyone blurted out.

"Us?" Naruto asked.

"Me!" Sakura. Ino and Tenten said in semi-unison.

"Interesting. . ." Shino said in a monotone like voice.

"Sounds exciting!" Kiba said as he smirked in a confident tone as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Troublesome. . ." Shikamaru muttered as Choji continued to eat his chips.

Sai just stared at her with his emotionless look on his face.

"I would be honored! What is this youthful choice we must make?" Lee said with a fire in his eyes causing everyone to have a sweat drop.

"Ok. Before me and Xion came back home, we had to do one last task to prove that we can be Keyblade Masters. This is the same thing that we're asking you guys if you want to do it. But remember, this your choice." Hinata said.

"Interesting, what was this task?" Kakashi asked, intrigued by this.

"The task we had to do involved something that Xemnas created before it was defeated but know one knows why he created them. Portals that lead to incredibly powerful Nobodies."

"How powerful are we talking?" Asuma asked in a serious tone of voice.

"Replicas of the original Organization XIII." Xion plainly said as everyone stared at her wide-eyed.

"Replicas! I thought they were beaten!" Naruto said as he panicked and flailed his arms around.

"Yes they were beaten, but these are only data clones that only attack a person if they go into their respective portal." Xion said. "They will also be good for training-"

"Against really powerful nobodies! I get it!" Naruto blurted out.

"Exactly, but get their we will need to travel to the world where they reside, ""Radiant Garden"." Hinata said.

"There'll be tough fights ahead and no one will know what will happen. This is why I'm giving you a choice. So. . . do you want to go or not?" Xion seriously asked.

Naruto instantly stepped forward and started to crack his knuckles and smirked at them. "When do we leave?"

"Naruto! What you doing!" Sakura said panicking. "This could be really dangerous!"

Kakashi chuckled at his resolve.

"Sakura listen," Naruto said as he gained a serious look on his face. "Chromoruxia is strong, you know that. We've got no experience at fighting nobodies really. This is a perfect opportunity to see how strong they can be. Remember, Chromoruxia said his Organization is just as strong as the original." Naruto then gave his goofy grin. "Besides, I can use a strong fight." He then walked over to Xion and Hinata. "I'm going."

Sakura sighed as she rubbed the back of her head. "Well I guess there's no stopping you. . . fine count me in." She said as she walked over to him and Hinata. "We are Team Kakashi after all." Naruto and Hinata nodded their heads in agreement.

"Count me in! I would never pass this down!" Kiba said as he rushed over with Akamaru.

"Indeed! These will be most youthful battle that I would want to fight!" Lee yelled out.

"That's it Lee! Show your comrades your flames of youth!" Gai blurted out as he gave him a thumbs up.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!" Soon enough they were embracing themselves in the dreaded "Sunset Genjutsu.

Xion looked at them, really confused. "What are they doing?"

Kakashi went over and place a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

Xion then nodded back at him. "Ok. Anyone else?"

Tenten face palmed herself. "I better go to make sure that Lee doesn't do anything stupid." She said as she walked over to the group.

Ino suddenly had a fire in her eyes. "I am not losing to Bill-Board Brow!" She thought as she stomped over.

"Troublesome. . . Ah whatever, as I don't do to much." Shikamaru said with Choji quickly following.

"This will be good experience for my Taijutsu. . . Even though I suck at it. . ." Shino thought as he went over.

"Listen you guys, I'm gonna have to leave again to make the preparations' with Master Yen Sid to sync the time this world with Radiant Garden, so you'll all have time to prepare." Xion said

"Hmm. . ." Tsunade said. "Well, since all of you are willing to do this. I can't really say no. But on one condition Xion."

"Being?" Xion asked.

Tsunade then turned to Kakashi. "You'll need a supervisor for this training, and since Kakashi is gonna start Naruto's training I say that he should go as well to watch over Naruto."

Xion then thought for minute. "That sounds reasonable. Alright. I just have one last thing to say to everyone before I go to prepare." Everyone stared at her with serious looks on their faces as she opened a corridor of light to leave. "Even though we aren't leaving now, all of you must train your skills to the best of your abilities and even further then that. Your all strong in your own ways, but you'll need to push your limits."

The senseis then stepped forward. "Don't worry, I'll train Naruto as hard as I can." Kakashi said.

"Sakura and Ino are now going to get even tougher training in only medical Ninjutsu but as her strength will grow as well." Tsunade confidently said as Sakura and Ino lost the color from their bodies.

"I'll train Shikamaru and Choji well." Asuma said as he smoked his cigar.

"I WILL TRAIN LEE AND TENTEN WITH ALL THE YOUTH THEY CAN TAKE!" Gai said with his nice guy pose, causing Tenten to drop her head muttering something about how his training's gonna kill her.

Kurenai then went up to Gai. "Actually, could you train Kiba and Shino as well," She then starts to rub her stomach. "I won't be on ninja duty for a while."

"I understand Kurenai." Gai said as he then turned to the two. "You two are going to get the most youthful training!" He then gave his nice guy pose as Kiba and Akamaru looked on with fear as Shino had his look where it was like he didn't care, but did have a small twitch that was barely noticeable.

"Yosh! Gai-Sensei! Indeed a most youthful training!" Lee blurted out.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!" Soon enough they were once again embracing themselves in the dreaded "Sunset Genjutsu.

Xion then started to head for the corridor. "Well I guess I better go and get the preparations ready."

"What kind of preparations exactly?" Kakashi asked.

"Two things. The first being that I got to get Yen Sid to time sync this world with Radiant Garden, and the other being. . ."

"What exactly?" Naruto asked.

"New Clothes for you guys."

"Huh? What do clothes have to do with anything?" Sakura asked.

"Well you see, the reason me and Hinata wore the Organization coats before we left was cause they had protective magic on them."

"For what?" Ino asked.

Xion then pointed at the corridor. "You see, no matter what the corridor is made of, light or darkness, a normal person would be consumed by it"

Everyone gulped at this. "So that's why the Organization wore those coats."

"Correct." Xion then smiled at everyone. "Well I guess I better get going for now."

"What? How will we know when you get back?" Sakura asked.

"That's easy. I'll just send out a beacon. Like this." Xion then summoned out her keyblade pointed it to the sky as a ray of light shot out from it. "The range of it can be seen from all of the 'Land Of Fire'. So once you see it, come back here."

Everyone nodded their head.

"Well then, Naruto I think it's about time we start your new training." Kakashi said.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered as he pumped a fist to the air.

"Well I'll see you guys." Xion said as she brought her hand out.

"Be back soon." Hinata said smiling as she place her hand in on top of Xion.

"We'll be training till you get back!" Naruto confidently said as he placed his hand in on top of Hinata's.

"Good luck!" Sakura and Ino said as they placed their hands in.

"We'll see you when ya get back!" Kiba said as Akamaru barked in agreement, both placing a hand and paw in.

"Safe travels." Shino said in his monotone like voice as he put his hand in the stack.

"YOSH! Have a most youthful journey!" Lee blurted out as he placed his hand.

Tenten put her hand on the stack. "Maybe I'll find some new weapons on this trip." She thought.

"Troublesome, I already know that Ino's gonna force me on this so I better get this over with." Shikamaru thought as he and Choji placed their hands in.

"I still don't get why I'm coming but maybe this trip will help me learn something better at bonds." Sai thought as he place his hand in.

"And break!" Naruto said as everyone lifted their stacked hands into the air and separated as Xion then went through the corridor as it closed behind her.

"I still wonder, why does Xion want me to go?" Sai asked. He didn't get an answer and everyone left to begin their individual trainings.


	34. Chapter 34

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 34: New Clothes, New Adventure

Xion was at 'The Mysterious Tower' as she told Yen Sid about her plan to train her friends in fighting Nobodies.

"I see. . . another Organization. . ." Yen Sid said.

"Yeah. . . so you see, this training would help Hinata and the other back the 'Shinobi Nations' in case they ever have to fight one of these new Organization members." Xion explained.

Yen Sid thought long and hard for a moment before finally saying, "Very well, I approve of you bring them to 'Radiant Garden' for training purposes." He then used his magic as it flew off. "Radiant Garden and The Shinobi Nations will be in sync with each other for as long as I can. Good luck with this training you're planning."

Xion smiled at him and bowed. "Thank you Yen Sid."

"Before you go, I would like to give a gift to the 4th Hokage's son Naruto." Yen Sid as he used some of his magic to conquer up what looked like two blades that looked like the Konoha symbol, but a bit stretched out so they were the length of two kunai blades. "These are special blades that will react to his chakra, when he sends his chakra in these blades the energy will come out the ends, extending the blades." Yen Sid then put the blades in a chest and gave it to Xion.

"I'm sure that Naruto will be happy to get these." Xion said as she bowed again.

Yen Sid then summoned Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. "I'll send these three along as well so your friends can get 'properly' ready for this journey they will be going on." He then turned to the three. "I heard about what happened with Sora before he left on his last journey," He then started to rub the bridge of his nose. "please don't accidentally put someone in a princess dress again."

"We will try not to." Flora said she and the other fairies bowed to him.

"Actually, before we go," Xion said as she opened a corridor. "how's Sora and Riku's exam doing?"

"Truth is, I really don't know for sure, but I can say that nothing is going wrong so far." Yen Sid said.

"Ok then, keep me updated on what happens. We shall take our leave now." Xion said as she bowed to him as the four of them entered the portal and it closed behind them.

As the corridor finally disappeared, a familiar red-haired man came into Yen Sid's chamber.

As Xion, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather traveled back to the 'Shinobi Nation' Xion went over to the three fairies.

"Ok, before we get there, I need to tell you that Naruto doesn't know who his father is and I think he needs to learn who he is on his own. So please don't tell him." Xion plead.

"Alright, not one word." Flora said as Fauna and Merryweather nodded.

The four continued until they arrived as Xion opened a portal. "Well. . . This is it. After they get their new clothes, we're off to Radiant Garden." Xion thought.

The four soon found themselves back at the 'Training Field' where Xion left.

"I wonder how long it's been?"

"Hmm. . . I would have to say, a month has passed." Flora said.

"Really? I guess traveling makes things seem longer then they usually are." Xion said shrugging her shoulders. "Well, better get them together." She then summoned her keyblade as she then raised it to the sky and sent out a beam of light. "Now remember, no princess dresses. Ok."

"Alright dear." Flora said.

After waiting about an hour, everyone showed up, except Hinata everyone's clothes were ripped, dirty, tattered.

"Welcome back!" Hinata happily said.

"Yo Xion, good to you again." Naruto said.

"It's good to see you again Xion." Kakashi said as he then saw the fairies. "I take it these are the ones that will be giving us new clothes."

"Yes we are." Flora said as she bowed to the group. "I am Flora, and this is Fauna and Merryweather." They two then bowed to Kakashi.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Now can tell us about some of the abilities of the clothes you'll be giving us?" Kakashi asked curiously.

""Well my good man, some of the few abilities include being able to pass through the corridors safely, resistances to many elements, also the clothes make it so your immune to what your world calls 'genjutsu', some other good things about these clothes are that stains will never show and they'll never rip no matter the cause. Oh by the way, I suggest taking off your headband for now until we are done. Are there any questions? "

As everyone except Sakura did what she said, Kiba then raised his hand. "I was wondering, does Akamaru here also have to get clothes?" He asked as Akamaru barked.

Fauna then started to chuckle. "No no dear, your dog won't have to worry about the corridors. Dogs strangely have immunity to corridors and are able to pass freely through them."

Kiba then took a sigh of relief as Flora stepped forward. "Alright dears, we'll chose who gets their clothes first." Flora then look at the group and saw Sai. "Oh my, those clothes look too small on you! Let's find you a new outfit." Flora said as the three pulled Sai forward.

"Um. . . Ok. . ." Sai said, still confused.

"Any ideas now?" Flora asked.

"What about this?" Fauna said as she did some magic on Sai's clothes.

The current result cause all the guys except Kakashi, Shikamaru and Shino to fall over and start laughing as the girls held in a chuckle at how Fauna accidentally put Sai in a princess dress.

Xion then palmed her face. "I thought Yen Sid told you not to do that!" She muttered.

"Oh my side! I-I can't breath!" Naruto said as he continued laughing.

"Nice look Sai! Real great!" Kiba sarcastically said as he continued laughing.

"Fauna! Again you put another person in a dress!" Flora said.

The three fairies then went through multiple different outfits as the guys continued to laugh at him.

"Um, my I suggest we get on with this?" Sai politely asked.

The three fairies then started to discuss what to do as they all raised their wands.

"Alright then. Together now dears." Flora said as they waved their wands in unison. "And no more fooling around." They then let out some magic in unison that collided with each other as it hit Sai, causing his clothes to glow. When the glow died down Sai's outfit had changed. He was now wearing a grey shirt with red linings, a black jacket both the shirt and jacket not covering his stomach, fingerless gloves, black and red lining pants and shoes, and a brown belt.

"Whoa!" Naruto said in amazement at Sai's new look.

"Unique." Sai said as he then took his headband and wrapped it around his head.

"Gotta say Sai, you look impressive." Sakura said.

"Hell yeah! I'm going next!" Kiba said as he went up.

"Hey!" Naruto called out, but was ignored.

"Well isn't someone excited." Merryweather said as the three did their magic again on Kiba.

Kiba's outfit drastically changed. He was now wearing a grey short-sleeved shirt with a fur collar and 3 yellow straps going through it, on both arms a pair of arm and wrist bracelets, black pants with Inuzuka red triangle marks on them, and brown shoes. Kiba then started to crack his knuckles. "So cool!" Akamaru then barked in agreement as Kiba put his headband back on.

"Now it's one of the girls turn." Flora said.

Tenten then step forward. "I was wondering if my weapon scrolls will be alright through the corridor."

"Don't worry, only items and animals don't have to worry about the corridors." Flora said as they did their magic on her.

Tenten's new outfit became similar to the one she wore before the time-skip. A pink shirt that went down to the upper part of her ankles where part of it there was red and in between was lined with navy blue. Instead of normal ninja sandals, she now wore dark violet boots with white socks. Tenten examined her new outfit as she then put her weapons scroll on her back. "I think I can make this work." Tenten then smiled as she then put her headband back on.

"You look most youthful Tenten! But now it is my turn!" Lee said as he jumped forward.

"Aw come on!" Naruto called out again.

The fairies just chuckled at Lee's personality as they did the magic on him.

No longer was Lee wearing his green spandex, in replacement he was now wearing a green shirt with a green and yellow zipper jacket, on his arms he had arm warmers that matched the ones on his legs. He was now also wearing green shorts with a thick orange lining and a crimson belt. He was still wearing the same blue ninja sandals. Lee then finished the outfit by wrapping his headband to his arm. "A most youthful outfit indeed, I'll cherish it well!"

"I guess it's my turn. . ." Shino said in his usual monotone voice.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot you were here Shino." Naruto said causing him to get a glare from him but quickly turned back."Ok." Fauna said as the magic was done again.

Like Tenten's outfit, Shino's new outfit became similar to his younger self. He no longer had his hood, revealing his spiky hair. He still had his eyes covered but this time by brown goggles with black lens so no one could see his eyes. He now wore a dark green jacket with a scarf, black gloves, grayish-brown pants and black steel tipped boots. Shino completed the outfit by wrapping his headband around his waist.

"Not bad Shino. You actually look noticeable." Kiba said.

"It's true." Hinata said.

Ino then started to squeal in excitement as she then went up. "Now me!" The fairies then did the magic again. Ino's outfit was similar to her original outfit. She wore a purple shirt where one of her sleeves was fishnet that went up to her elbow while her other sleeve covered her entire arm and the palm of her hand, on her neck she had a black choker. The skirt that she was wearing was black with another two shades of purple attached to it. Throughout her outfit she had multiple black straps. She now also wore black boots with brown linings and metal on the top. Ino was completely in love with her new outfit as she admired it. "Alright Shikamaru! Your going next!" She said as she dragged him over.

Shikamaru grumbled as he was dragged over. "Troublesome. . ." he mumbled.

"It's alright, it won't be long." Flora said doing the clothes changing magic again.

Shikamaru's outfit completely changed. He outfit consisted of a brown long-sleeved shirt with a very dark green short-sleeved jacket with a yellow lining, a black belt, dark green pants with some tan on it and shoes the same colors as the jacket. He then wrapped his headband around his arm.

"You look awesome Shikamaru!" Choji said with a smile.

"Thanks." Shikamaru replied with a smirk. "Your turn now."

The magic then hit Choji as his outfit changed like Shikamaru's. He now wore a green long-sleeved shirt with the Japanese word for food on it written in red like the cuffs of his sleeves. He also sported a turquoise short-sleeved zippered jacket and on his head was a lime-green sweatband. The pants that he wore were black with a thin white lining. Lastly the shoes that he wore were green an black. He then wrapped his headband around his arm like Shikamaru's.

"Not bad Choji. A good outfit for camouflage." Shino said.

"Thanks." Choji said smiling.

Sakura then walked up. "Alright, so me then Naruto and lastly Kakashi."

"Hey wait a- aw never mind just give Sakura her new clothes." Naruto said in defeat.

"It's alright Naruto." Hinata said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Besides, Yen Sid asked me to give to a gift after you get your new clothes, so be happy." Xion said.

Before Naruto could reply about him getting a gift, the fairies did their magic on Sakura, but made a little mistake with something.

"What the?" Ino cried out as she saw Sakura's new 'assets', being that her breast size was increased to at least a B-cup.

Sakura's outfit changed completely besides her breast. She was now wearing a black undershirt with a red and white hooded long-sleeved cloak that didn't cover her stomach like Ino's outfits and fingerless gloves. She also has two strips of pink cloth that drape over her sides attached to her headband that became a belt. She also wore black skintight pants that that didn't even pass her knees, on one her legs had white bandages on it while the other didn't as on her ninja sandals were replaced with black and white shoes.

Naruto made a clone and had it transformed into a mirror for Sakura to look as she instantly noticed a 'big' change.

"Oh my dear! I'm so sorry about that! If you want, I can fix it if you like?" Flora said as she apologized.

Sakura then a wide smile on her face at her new breast. "No no, it alright. You don't need to, I can live with this."

"Hey!" Ino yelled out but was ignored.

"Anyway, finally it's my turn!" Naruto said as he ran up to them.

Ino just glared at Sakura as she came back and noticed that some of the boys were blushing as Sakura's breast were bouncing. "Stop that!"

"Yes ma'am!" The guys that were blushing said in unison.

"Alright! New outfit! I hope it's as cool as the other!" Naruto said.

"Oh yes, your outfit will be one of the best." Flora said as she went up to him. "Hinata told us about the Nine-Tails in you, these clothes will help you suppress it's chakra, just like that pendant your wearing." she whispered.

"Awesome!" Naruto said as the girls did their magic on them as Naruto's clothes started to glow. When the light dimmed down Naruto completely changed.

"Wow Naruto you look amazing!" Hinata said with a light blush on her face.

"Holy crap!" Kiba said, surprised at Naruto's new look.

The rest of the guys stared at Naruto wide-eyed at the change while the rest of the girls started to blush a little at how handsome he was. Kakashi was only think one thing. "Minato-Sensei!"

Naruto was wearing a blue undershirt with a orange and black zipper jacket, the shoulder had what looked like blue shoulder pads on one of them having the Whirlpool symbol on it, he also wore fingerless gloves as one of his arms was wrapped in bandages. He accessorized a black belt with his orange pants that had a holster on each side, on one of the pants legs there were white bandages, lower on the pants were black sections that had the Konoha symbol in orange. The shoes he was wearing were black with white ends and strapped with orange laces. Naruto then tied his headband back on tightly as he then cracked his knuckles. "Now THIS is awesome!"

Xion then came up to him with the chest. "Our master asked me to give this you as a gift. Hinata told him a lot about you while we were training."

"Cool! Thanks Xion!" Naruto then took the chest and opened it to see two blade. Nice blades!" He said as he picked them up.

Tenten was drooling at the craftsmanship of the blades. "Shiny." She said as Lee started to back away from her.

"Yen Sid told me that these blades were made to send chakra into them, doing so will release some of your chakra in the blades extending them and solidifying it for a while."

"Impressive so they're like Asuma-Sensei's chakra blades except they can do more." Shikamaru said.

Naruto started to get use to the blades as he held them inversed style. "I think I can get used to these pretty quickly." He said smiling. He then sent some of his chakra into the blades as then the chakra came out the ends, making it like he was holing two short swords. "Oh yeah, I can get used to this." He retracted the blades energy as he then put the blades in the holsters. "Now lastly is Kakashi to get some new clothes."

Kakashi then stepped forward as the fairies then did their magic. He now wore a blue shirt with red lining sleeves, fingerless gloves and a grey protective vest that only covered his chest and an Anbu mask on his shoulder. The pants he wore were grey while one of the legs had a black sash with orange lining, and a red circle with the Japanese symbol for fire on it. His legs had white bandages that were covered by his blue shoes with red laces and metal ends. Kakashi then went and put his headband back on and covered his Sharingan eye.

"Not bad Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto said.

"The Anbu mask is a nice touch." Sakura said.

"Yeah." Kakashi said as he turned to the fairies. "How did you know I was in the Anbu?"

"Oh, well when we use the magic, it reflects what someone is think and takes a little of in. For you Kakashi since you were thinking about the Anbu, the magic made it so a feature from the Anbu appeared on you." Flora explained.

"Well that makes sense." Kakashi said

Everyone then had their new clothes ready, the group said their good byes to Flora, Fauna and Merryweather as they disappeared in a flash of light as they returned to the 'Mysterious Tower'.

"Well since we are already to go," Xion said as she opened a corridor. "Shall we?" She then enter the corridor.

"Hell yeah! Those Organization bastards are going down!" Naruto yelled out as he rushed into the corridor.

"Naruto wait up!" Hinata said as she and Sakura went in after him.

"Always rushing ahead." Kakashi sighed as he went through along with Sai.

"Alright! Lets go Akamaru!" Kiba said as he got on Akamaru and went in with Shino silently following him.

"Let this be a most youthful journey!" Lee cheered as he rushed through with Tenten chasing after him.

"Troublesome. . ." Shikamaru said as he enter and rubbed the bridge of his nose as Ino and Choji followed.

The corridor then closed behind them as they followed Xion. Naruto and Hinata were holding each other's hand, Sakura was enjoying her new breast while Ino was glaring at her, Tenten was palming her face as Lee was walking on his hands saying it was part of his training, Choji was eating a bag of chips while Shikamaru was thinking three steps ahead, and Shino was think of a plan to spread his bugs when they got there so he make more while Kiba and Akamaru were ranting about how they going knock out all of the Data Organization members. Kakashi and Xion were discussing their plan for fighting the Organization.

"So how exactly should we do this?" Kakashi asked.

"What do you mean?" Xion replied.

"Well there are thirteen members and as you say, there are all equally strong. I don't exactly think we should just fight them in any random order."

"I see. . . Well Xemnas was the strongest cause he was the leader, so I think he should go last."

"Hmm. . . Hinata can you come over here?" Kakashi called out to her.

"Ok, I'm coming." Hinata gave a quick kiss on the lips as she went over to them. "So what's up?"

"We're trying to figure out who's gonna battle who and in what specific order." Xion said.

"Oh, well that can be a pretty tough decision." Hinata said.

"Xion I was wondering, was there someone in the Organization who used wind as an element?" Kakashi asked.

Xion thought as she remembered Sora fighting Number III of the Organization. "Yeah, there was Xaldin. A wind controller that uses six lances as weapons. Making a request?"

Kakashi nodded at her. "Naruto's affinity is wind so I think a battle with a wind user will be a good choice."

"Alright, So Naruto will go against Xaldin. Any other requests?" Xion asked.

"Actually Xion," Hinata started to say. "I would like to fight Roxas if it's alright?"

"Keyblade wielder versus a keyblade wielder, I can understand even though he is data. I'll let you fight him. Besides, I'm going to go up against Axel."

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked.

Xion then nodded her head. "I'm sure, I'll have to face him again sometime. Even though it's just a copy, I'll help get rid of some of the guilt." Xion then closed her eyes. "Plus it gives me some payback for him beating me last time we fought." She thought. Xion reopened her eyes and opened a corridor. "We're here." She said as she and the group went through.

"Whoa!" Naruto said as he ran to ledge to see the castle that was still being rebuilt.

"So this is another world?" Sakura as she and other except Kakashi leaned against the railing to also see the rebuilt castle.

"Welcome to Radiant Garden." Xion said.


	35. Chapter 35

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 35: Explorations and Meetings

'HELP!" Someone screamed, attracting the attention of the group.

"What!" Naruto quickly rushed towards the sound.

"Naruto stay with the group!" Kakashi said he went after him.

"Something's never change. . ." Sakura said as she palmed her face.

Hinata started to giggle. "Aw come on Sakura, if Naruto wasn't the way he was, what would you rather him be? Emo?"

"Yeah! We would want Naruto to be like Sasuke back at the academy right?" Kiba said as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I'm just going to ignore you saying that Kiba." Sakura said as she cracked her knuckles. Kiba got the point and kept his mouth shut as they went after Naruto and Kakashi.

Naruto ran to see a woman being harassed by some Shadows, Naruto then took this opportunity to try out his new blades as he got them out and extended them with his chakra. "Bring it on!" He then dashed into them as instantly destroyed them. "Hey lady, are you alright?"

The woman simple nodded as more Shadows started to appear. Naruto ordered the woman to get to safety while he took care of them when. . .

"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi said as he jabbed his hand into one of the Shadows and destroyed it. "Naruto I told you to wait up. . . Sometimes you can be to impatient." Kakashi said as more Shadows appeared.

"CHA!" Sakura screamed as she slammed her fist into one of the Shadows, destroying it. "Jeez Naruto, you just rush into these situations! We have to have some strategy."

Shino used his insects to capture one in a sphere as he then enclosed it., crushing the Heartless with a large amount of force while Kiba and Akamaru did their 'Fang over Fang' as they destroyed as few. "So these are Heartless. . . They look like insects. . ."

"Don't get any ideas Shino." Kiba said as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"SPIKY HUMAN BOULDER!" Choji roared as he ran over some Heartless. "Heart eating freaks. . ." He muttered.

"Jeez this such a drag!" Shikamaru said as he did his "Shadow Stitching Jutsu", stabbing the Heartless as they disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Ino had been training with Shizune as she learned some medical Ninjutsu and some of her skills, which she displayed as she did Shizune's "Poison Fog" Technique, as it slowly destroyed the Heartless. "There's just no end to these monsters!" She said as Lee and Tenten were fighting some of, not being able to speak at the moment.

Sai tried to destroy some of the Heartless with some ink beast, but more kept coming. "Interesting. . . a never ending force of creatures." He muttered as he got out a scroll. "I better capture one for Lord Danzō. . ." He muttered as he quickly seal a Shadow in the scroll and put it away.

Hinata and Xion summoned out their keyblades as they headed into the fray, eliminating as many Heartless as they could. "Just like training with Yen Sid, eh Hinata?"

"Yup!" Hinata said as she smacked a Heartless into black smoke.

As the group continued fighting, three people were watching them. Two guys and a girl. One of the guys had long brown hair and was holding a gun blade while the other had blonde short hair with a black bandanna on while he was cracking his knuckles. The black haired girl was spinning a kunai with her finger.

"Should we help them? They look like they're in a pinch and Cid's Claymore system is down at the moment."

"Yuffie, they seem to be strong but-"

"But nothing Squall! We're part of the committee, and should help anyone if they're fighting these damn Heartless!"

". . . That's Leon Snow. . ."

"Whatever! I'm helping them! Come on Yuffie!" Snow said as he rushed into the battle.

Yuffie palmed her face. "Snow and that heroic attitude of his. . ." She muttered as she went after him.

Leon smirked as he went after the two as he then saw Hinata and Xion, both wielding a keyblade, which surprised him. "Who are those two? Maybe they can help with our current situation." He muttered.

Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura were out of breath as more Heartless started to appear.

"Damn it! Won't these guys just leave us alone!" Naruto yelled as he tried to catch his breath.

"Well they are persistent. . ." Kakashi said.

"Hold on while I-" Sakura was about to say when. . .

"Get down!" A voice as a green glowing Fuma Shuriken came at the three.

"Duck!" Kakashi said as the three got down as the shuriken hit all the surrounding Heartless.

Yuffie then jumped from where she was in front of them as she caught her shuriken as it had acted like a boomerang. "You guys alright?"

Kakashi then got back up. "Yes, thanks for the assistants." He then bowed to her as Naruto and Sakura got back up.

Yuffie then rubbed her upper lip with her finger. "No problem, now lets go help your friends."

"Right!" The three said as they dashed off to help the others.

Kiba, Akamaru and Shino were surround by multiple Heartless.

"Damn! Now what!" Kiba said angrily.

Suddenly a fireball was shot out as a Heartless was destroyed.

"I'll help out!" Leon said as he started slashing his gun blade.

"Thanks!" Kiba said as Akamaru barked happily. Soon all the Heartless surrounding them were gone.

"Impressive. . ." Shino said in his usual monotone like voice.

"No problem! Come with me, we'll help your friends."

Kiba and Shino nodded as the three went with him.

Lee, Shikamaru and Choji were up against a wall while Ino and Tenten were surrounded.

"Man this is such a drag!"

"Why do they keep coming?" Choji said as he was panting.

"They are most strong enemies indeed my friend!" Lee said

"Well I guess it's good thing we're here then huh?"

"What!" The two said in unison as a sphere went in front of the Heartless. The sphere then expanded as a glacier came out, destroying the Heartless.

Snow then came in and punched out the remaining Heartless. "You guy alright?"

"Yes we are indeed! Thank you for the help!" Lee blurted out.

"No problem." Snow confidently said as he then winked at Ino and Tenten.

Ino blushed as Tenten rolled her eyes. "Cocky. . ." Tenten muttered.

"Now then," Snow then turned to the rest of the Heartless. "Let's take them down!" He then charged in, him and Lee punching them out while Choji used his 'Spiky Human Boulder' again and Shikamaru, Ino and Tenten rested up. Soon all the Heartless were gone, as Snow caught his breath, his communicator went off as he then went and picked it up. "Hello?"

At the committee's base was Cid and Aerith, Cid was contacting Snow. "Hey Snow, just wanted to tell you that the defense system is almost back online."

"That would really great now!"

"Just one more key stroke and. . . Done!"

Back on the battlefield, multiple spheres of light appeared from the ground under the Heartless, sending some of the Heartless into the air and destroying some of them. Everyone then caught their breath as the system destroyed the rest of them.

"Is everyone alright?" Squall asked, getting nods of agreement of Hinata and her friends as they got up.

"Yes, we're ok. Thanks for the help." Kakashi said

"Man! There were a lot of them!" Naruto said as he stood up.

"Unfortunately it's more then just those types." Xion said as she did a Cure spell on everyone. "We got a lot of training to do. . ." She thought.

"Seriously! DAMN IT!" Naruto yelled as he put his blades away.

"It's alright Naruto, they just swarmed us and we were at a major disadvantage." Hinata said as she hugged him.

Kakashi then turned to see that a group of people including the woman that Naruto saved praising and cheering them, the woman saying thank you for saving her and everyone else in the crowd saying that they are grateful to them for their efforts.

Naruto and Lee smiled as they both gave the crowd a thumbs-up. Kiba smirked as he rubbed his nose as Akamaru barked and wagged his tail. Sakura ,Shino, and Tenten bowed to the group as they were glad to help. Shikamaru yawned as Choji patted him on the back as Ino embraced the praise they were getting. Sai blankly stared at the scroll with the sealed Heartless as he then looked at the crowd. Hinata and Xion blushed for the praise.

"You'll be receiving the bill for our service." Yuffie said as Leon bonked her on the head with his fist. "Behave!" Leon said.

"Yuffie. . ." Snow said as he rubbed his face and chuckled. "Always with the jokes. . ."

Leon then went over to Hinata, Xion and the rest of their group while a portly woman was giving Yuffie a large bag of rice balls. "I'm gonna have to ask you guys to come with me."

Kakashi then rubbed the back of his head, eye smiling, and chuckled. "Yeah I figured that. . ."

"Hey Leon! Can you help with this!" Yuffie said as she struggled to lift the bag of rice balls.


	36. Chapter 36

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 36: Troubles and Truths

In the realm of darkness, a teenage boy at the age of 17 was mediating. He wore a silver helmet that had a drape that went down to his shoulders. His also wore a black coat that had crimson markings on it, and a black strap that went across his chest in the form of an 'X', the coat being that it went from his chin to his waist, dark gray gloves, black pants, brown boots with metal on them. The teenager opened his eyes to reveal the Byakugan. "What is it Master Ansem?" He suddenly asked as Ansem the Seeker of Darkness appeared and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It is time. . . Neji. . ."

He smiled at his master, as if he knew what he was talking about. "Finally, the new me awaits. I cast off my ridiculous past self as a Hyuga. . . And become a new being." He said as the two then faded away into darkness.

Back in Radiant Garden, Hinata's group was at the 'Radiant Garden Restoration Committee' headquarters. Kakashi was having a serious discussion with Leon, Sakura and Aerith were talking about medical related things, Kiba and Akamaru were taking a nap, Shino was standing in the corner, Ino was watching Snow, Tenten was inspecting her weapons along with Yuffie, Lee was doing one-handed push-ups, Choji was helping Cid with cooking lunch, Shikamaru was also taking a nap, Xion was talking to Merlin about magic, Sai was writing something in a scroll, and Naruto and Hinata were both making-out with each other.

(With Kakashi and Leon)

"I see. . ." Leon said after Kakashi explained who they were, where they came from and what they were there for. "Alright, we'll let you guys do what you need to do. . . But on one condition."

"Being?" Kakashi asked, unsure where this was going.

"We want your help with-"

(With Naruto and Hinata)

The two separated from making out.

"It was lucky that the committee was able to help us." Hinata said.

"Yeah! I hate to admit it but if it wasn't for them we would've been beaten!" Naruto said.

Hinata kissed him on the cheek again. "Don't worry, that's what we're here for. To train for these types of situation."

Naruto was about to reply when. . .

(With Sakura and Aerith)

"Wow, so magic are good for instant healing and also good for getting rid of things like poison?" Sakura asked as she learned some knowledge about some healing spells.

Aerith nodded her head. "Magic can do all sorts of things. Why with proper training, maybe you could-" Aerith was about to continue when.

(With Xion and Merlin)

"I have to say my dear that you were impressive in that scuffle you were in." Merlin said.

"Really?" Xion asked.

"Yes. I was wondering, who trained you so well with the keyblade?"

"Well that's-" Xion was about to continue when. . .

(With Tenten and Yuffie)

"Gotta say Tenten, you were pretty impressive with all the weapons you had." Yuffie complemented.

"Thanks, that shuriken you used was pretty cool. None of our world's Fuma shurikens can come back to the user like a boomerang. Although I am gonna have to buy some weapons here." Tenten said as she eyed Leon's gun blade and her eyes started to get stars. Before she could do anything. . .

(With Choji and Cid)

"Gotta say kid, your pretty good here in the kitchen." Cid said.

"It's nothing. Coming from a family that depends on eating, it's a gift." Choji said as the two finished making the food. "Well, time to bring out the food."

Cid smirked. "Yup." The two headed back with the other and. . .

"FOOD'S READY!" Cid and Choji announced as they brought in two large pot of ramen, a large bowl of rice, multiple assortments of different meats, the rice balls from earlier and some dog food for Akamaru.

"Lets continue this discussion while we eat." Leon said.

"Good idea, can't fight Heartless on an empty stomach." Kakashi said as he sat down at the table.

"Aright!" Naruto cheered as he and Hinata sat down.

"Wow this all looks good!" Hinata said.

Kiba and Akamaru woke up from the smell of the food. "Woohoo! Time to eat!" Akamaru barked in agreement as they got over.

Lee got up from doing his push-ups as Tenten put away her weapons in her scroll. "Yes! TIME FOR A MOST YOUTHFUL MEAL!"

Yuffie was about what he just said when Tenten waved her off. "Don't ask! Trust me!" She demanded.

Shikamaru yawned as he woke up and headed for the table. "Jeez Choji, made enough food?"

"What! After a tough battle like before, we always have to keep our strength."

"The kid's right," Cid said as he prepare a bowl of rice. "with all the Heartless and Nobodies around, we always got keep our bellies full." He then pointed to Choji. "This guy here is the perfect example." Choji smiled as he rubbed the back his head.

Snow came over to the table and conveniently sat next to Ino, he then went to his pocket and pulled out a tear shaped crystal as he muttered something.

"What's that?" Ino asked. "Its beautiful."

Snow put away the crystal and smiled at Ino. "It's nothing, just something of a friend of mines."

Shino silently came over to the table and sat down.

Xion sat besides Merlin while Sakura and Aerith sat down as they everyone started to eat.

Naruto went straight for the ramen while everyone else started eating the other food.

"Man! This is some good ramen Choji!" Naruto happily said as he slurped some noodles.

"I gotta say, this is quiet a spread." Hinata said as she ate a rice ball.

"Thanks guys!" Choji said as he had a plate with a little of everything and started to eat everything.

Everyone continued to eat until there was banging coming from the door, surprising them as everyone turned towards the door. Bursting through it was a red lion/wolf-like beast that was injured.

"Crap! Nanaki!" Yuffie said as she ran up to him. "What happened! What did this to you!"

Nanaki grunted as him limped in, Yuffie closing the door behind her. "Damn Heartless. . . A real pain in the ass." He then turn towards Leon. "There're more of them. . . There numbers keep growing. . ."

Sakura then ran over to him. "Hold on I can help." She then put her palms on him as they started to glow green.

After finishing his food and putting his mask back on, Kakashi gave Leon a stern look. "What's going on around here?"

"It's what I was going to ask you to help us with." Leon then sigh as he continued. "A while back there was a short time of peace after Sora and his friends destroyed a crazed computer program called the MCP, that program tried to destroy all the people here at Radiant Garden,. Unfortunately that time was short when 'she' came back."

"She?" Naruto asked as helped Nanaki to a nearby bed.

"Yeah! That damn witch Maleficent." Yuffie said as she slammed her fist against the wall.

"A witch?" Sakura asked. "Like magic and stuff?"

"Yeah. . . Her big plan basically is to take over all world. She's also the one who sends out most of the Heartless."

"I see, so most of the Heartless here in this world are. . ." Kakashi started.

"Caused by her." Leon finished.

"How big of a threat is she?" Naruto asked.

Leon sighed as he turned to Naruto. "Follow me to the bailey, there's something you need to see." He then went to the door, wielding his gun blade. "But prepare to fight."

"Alright. . ." Naruto said as he took his blades out of his holster and turned to his girlfriend, friends and sensei. "Let's go you guys." Everyone nodded after finishing there food.

"Right." Hinata said as she got up and summoned her keyblade and the group headed out the door.

After fighting off multiple heartless, the group finally made it to the bailey. Besides Hinata and Xion, Naruto and the others were surprised at the destruction of the area.

"As I told Kakashi, we've been trying to fix up Radiant Garden and make it a better it live." Leon explained as he leaned against a wall. "Look at that ruined castle over there." Leon then pointed to said castle.

Hinata used her Byakugan to look in the castle while the others leaned against the bricks. "I see two people in there, a woman on a throne and what looks like an overweight cat."

"Maleficent and her right-hand man Pete." Leon said as the group continued to look ar the castle.

"Man that castle looks wrecked!" Kiba said as everyone nodded in agreement.

"Look at the canyon around it. . . And you'll see why we're asking for your help. . ."

The group lowered their heads to see the canyon and they all became wide-eye.

"WHAT THE! ARE KIDDING ME!" Naruto blurted out.

"My god. . ." Kakashi muttered as Sakura covered her mouth.

"No. . ." Hinata muttered as she went into Naruto's chest, trying not to cry.

"Just like last time. . ." Xion thought as she clenched her fist.

"Troublesome. . ." Shikamaru seriously muttered as Choji for once stopped eating a bag of chip.

Shino and Sai stayed silent while Kiba punched the wall. "Damn it!"

Ino, Tenten and Lee were speechless at the sight.

In the canyon below, everything was black with little specks of yellow. The canyon was filled to the brink with Heartless.

"Your saying that Maleficent caused this?" Kakashi asked.

Leon nodded. "Nanaki under his codename Red XIII was trying to find a way to somehow reduce their numbers but. . ."

"He got found out huh?" Naruto asked.

"That bring me to my request. . . If you could help us get rid of them. . ."

Naruto then gave his signature grin. "You don't even need to ask!"

"He's right, beside training I want to be able to help another world." Hinata proudly said as everyone nodded in agreement.

Choji then look back at the canyon. "Jeez it looks like soy sauce being boiled in lava."

Ino gave him a light smack on the head. "That's cause we're quite a distance from the canyon itself." Everyone except Shino started to chuckle a bit from Ino and Choji's antics until they started to hear clapping. The group then ran down the ruined bailey area to try and find the source.

"Bravo. . . You show much courage." A voice said.

Hinata, Xion and the group looked to at a loose pipe that goes up to the castle to see two snake-skin coated figures. Obviously one being male because of the structure of his body and the other being female mainly cause her body had curves at the waist and she was wearing heels. When Hinata and Xion saw the two, the summoned out their keyblades.

"You are part of Chromoruxia's Organization!" Xion said angrily.

"OH PUT THOSE DAMN BLADES AWAY YOU BITCHES!" The obviously female member said in a harsh voice. She then looked at the group, specifically Shikamaru. "YOU!"

Shikamaru looked confused as he the got into a stance. "Yeah what about me!"

She then removed her hood to reveal a familiar pink haired woman to Shikamaru. "Recognize me now!" She said as she smirk.

Shikamaru's expression changed, also going widen. "But how! Your dead!"

"Shikamaru, you know her?" Xion asked.

"She's one of those Sound Ninjas that took Sasuke. Tayuya I think her name was."

The female Organization member then started to laugh before smirking at the group. "Unfortunately your only half way there. I'm her Nobody, the name is Yatuxay." She then turned towards Xion. "Your Xion , the former nobody of the Original Organization XIII right?"

"What about it?"

The male member then removed his hood to reveal a pale skinned man with white hair, and two red dots on his forehead, surprising Lee. "Lord Chromoruxia has a message for you if one us ever saw you."

"A message?" Kakashi asked.

"He wanted to tell her thank you for the prime evidence." The male Organization member then pointed straight at her. "Herself being the prime example of his theory which has been proven right."

"Although I gotta say, your old leader must've been a dumb ass or had some kind of plan for you and the other old Organization XIII members for not telling his members."

"WHAT ARE YOU BASTARDS TALKING ABOUT?" Naruto yelled in a feral tone.

"Yeah! What's this theory of Chromoruxia!" Sakura asked.

"First let me ask Xion a question." He then turned towards her, staring at her with emotionless eyes. "Where did your heart come from?"

Xion was shocked at the question. "W-why do you ask?"

"Just intrigue me."

"Xion. . ." Hinata said as she place her hand on her shoulder.

Xion then de-summoned her keyblade and started to get depressed. "I really didn't know exactly where my heart came from. My feelings were fake from the memories of Sora, my face was from Sora's memories of Kairi, and my heart was probably one of the many hearts of another person when Xemnas's Kingdom Hearts exploded-"

Yatuxay then made a fake buzzer indicating that she was wrong about something. "And this is where Chromoruxia's theory comes in!"

"What!"

The male member then came down from the pipe and leaned against the wall. "Where are my manners, first off I'm Morixakim, the nobody of the one known as Kimimaro."

Lee muttered something but not was able to hear it as he looked away.

"Anyway for Chromoruxia's theory involves something that would seem impossible."

"B-being?"

"You see, when Sasuke told Lord Chromoruxia about the original Organization XIII, he thought that there was something shaking behind their methods."

"What do mean?" Sakura asked.

"He asked many question. 'Why would Xemnas tell the members that they had no hearts?' 'If we didn't have a heart, then why do we have the emotions of our past selves?' After thinking it over and over again, he came up with this single theory. 'What if some nobodies actually grow their own hearts over time?' He then learned about you Xion."

Xion then became wide-eyed and started to shake. "N-no! Y-you don't mean that!"

Yatuxay then smirked at her. "That's right girly, you grew your own heart!"

"WHAT!" The entire group yelled in surprise.

Xion then shakily moved her hand to her chest. "I-I can't be. . . I grew a heart? This is my own heart? How is that possible? How-?" Xion then passed out in shock.

"XION!" Hinata yelled as she and Naruto ran over to her.

"Come on wake up!" Naruto yelled as he then glared at the two members of Chromoruxia's Organization. "YOU BASTARDS! HOW COULD YOU PUT HER INTO SHOCK WITH A LIE LIKE THAT!"

"Who said it was a lie dumb ass." Yatuxay then turned towards Morixakim. "We should head back and send in our report to Lord Chromoruxia." She then turned back to the group. 'See ya later kiddies!" She soon enough disappeared into a dark corridor.

"I bid you all farewell." Morixakim said as he started to disappear into darkness. "But next time we meet, we will be enemies." He soon faded completely into a dark corridor.


	37. Chapter 37

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 37: Beginning Of Fights-Sora's Nobody

Xion slowly opened her eyes, moaning as she grabbed her head in pain. "Ah my head." Her vision was still blurry as everything looked like colored blobs. She was able to hear a few sounds though, one being the sound of waterfalls and the other being that their was some talking going on. "I guess Hinata brought the group to the Garden." she said as her vision started to clear up, seeing that she actually was their, as she got up. . .

"XION!" A voice cried out.

As Xion turned her head, she was hugged by Hinata and Naruto while the rest of the group watched

"I'm glad that you finally woke up, we were all worried." Hinata said.

"You really scared us with your fainting." Naruto said.

Sakura then punched him on the head. "Baka, how would you react with learning something like that?"

Naruto then rubbed the bump on his head. "Sorry about that, we're glad that your awake though."

Xion giggle as Hinata and Naruto got off her. "It's alright. Thanks for worrying about me though." She then looked around to see that everyone was there except Leon. "Where'd Leon go?"

Kakashi then stepped forward. "Leon told me that he had to head back to the committee base to inform the others what happened. He also gave me a communicator to contact us in case." He then looked at the doorways, which were completely blue. "So, are we ready to get started?"

Xion dusted herself off and smiled. "Yup." She then headed towards the computer in the center. She started to type on the computer where she found something. "Oh?"

"What is it Xion?" Sakura asked as the group went over to the computer.

"I did not know about this. It seems like there are recordings of Sora when he did his past battles against them. Oh even mine and Hinata's are here as well." Xion said as she clicked the video of Hinata fighting Larxene.

"Huh, so there was a another female in the Organization beside you Xion." Naruto said as he and the others watched the video. "Those are some awesome moves your doing Hinata."

"Well that's a unique way of doing a lightning manipulation. Even though she was evil, I'm impressed." Kakashi said as he watched Larxene use the columns of lightning. "Although the laugh is annoying."

"Trust me when I say that she was really annoying when I fought her." Hinata said as she started pouted.

"Shiny knives. . . must have. . ." Tenten said in a monotone voice while a noticeable blob of drool appeared in the corner of her mouth while Lee backed away from her in fear.

"She seems pretty interesting to fight." Sakura said as she started to crack her knuckles.

"Even I'm not that overconfident, I would like to show her whose better." Ino said.

Xion sweat dropped at the last comment. "Then you three will be the next match." She closed the Hinata fighting Larxene video and then opened the video of her fighting Roxas. "This is what you'll be up against Hinata, so memorize it well."

The group watched the video as it went on, from the fight, data Roxas destroying Xion's first keyblade, gaining the new one, and finally beating the data Roxas.

"Whoa. . ." Hinata, Sakura and most of the group said in semi-unison.

Naruto became wide-eyed when her realized something. "Wait. . . He was wielding two keyblades!" He turned towards Xion. "Can you do that?"

Xion just shrugged her shoulder. "Beats me. Anyway Hinata are you ready?"

Hinata nodded her head. "Yeah. . . I think I am."

Naruto hugged Hinata as he then kissed her on the lips for a second then separated. "Good luck Hinata, we'll be rooting for you!"

The rest of the group smiled as Hinata headed towards the door with the two keyblades. As Hinata stand in front of the gate, she took a deep breath and closed her eye. When she turned to look back at her friends and lover, she reopened them with an incredible amount of determination and gave them a thumbs-up. "Let's do this." She then went into the gate where she had to cover her eyes caused by a blinding light.

Outside after Hinata went in, the group went the computer screen to see if they could watch the fight go on while she is in.

When Hinata reopened her eyes she saw that she was at the data version of Sora's Station of Awakening. "This is it. . ." She muttered as she summoned her keyblade.

On the outside, Xion was able to make it so that they could watch as Hinata's fight would go on.

On the ground in front of her, vast amounts of data appeared until the well known hooded boy wielding the 'Oblivion' and 'Oathkeeper' Keyblades as he then got into his stance.

"GO GET HIM HINATA!" Naruto cheered as he then noticed that Tenten was drooling. "Tenten, are you ok?"

"Shiny. . ." She said in a monotone voice which creped everyone out.

Hinata got into her stance, prepared to fight one of the few most intense fight ever. She dashed into Roxas as he spun his keyblades into a criss-cross formation as he then sent out a circular shockwave. "Dodge!" Hinata quickly thought as she jumped into the air, spinning sideways, then landing behind him. Hinata then started to slash Replica Roxas until he jumped into the air and did a barrel roll to the ground into Hinata. Unable to move Hinata blocked the attack as he then started to fight back using both keyblades.

Back on outside, the group except Xion gasped in awe with the intense battle going on.

"Whoa. . ." was the only thing Sakura was able to say.

Shino stared blankly at the screen then turned towards Kiba. "She's grown. . ."

Kiba nodded his head. "Yeah. . . Definitely."

Choji for once stopped eating his chips to watch.

Shikamaru yawned. "Troublesome. . ." he muttered.

Ino looked towards him. "Hmm? What do you mean Shikamaru?"

"You'll see."

"Go Hinata! WOOHOO!" Naruto cheered.

"I am impressed with her fighting abilities." Sai said as he then turned to Kakashi. "May I ask who trained her?"

"Later, watch the fight." Kakashi said, eyes still glued to the screen..

Back in the battle. . .

Hinata gained some distance away from Replica Roxas as the two then rushed into each other, both prepared to attack on contact. "Wait for it" She thought as she close. "Now!" She muttered as she sent Replica Roxas into the air. "I wonder?" Hinata thought as she quick sent out her hand to Roxas's Keyblade. Instantly on contact, the two keyblades came to her, glowing their respective colors and floating besides her. "Awesome!"

Back outside. . .

"Did she just?" Sakura started to ask.

"Yes she did, she took Roxas's keyblades." Kakashi plainly pointed out as Naruto started to laugh and Xion face palmed herself muttering "Why didn't I think of that?"

Back in the battle. . .

As Hinata started to attack Roxas again, the Keyblades floating besides her started to attack in a frenzy of different ways. "I'm doing pretty well for myself."

Replica Roxas quickly dashed away and started sending out pillars of light at Hinata. While Hinata was dodging them he managed to get behind her.

"Uh-oh!" Hinata mutter as she realized that Replica Roxas took back his keyblades and aimed to attack her with them. Hinata quickly reversal out of his range. "Ragnarok!" She quickly hit Replica Roxas into the air and summoned the projectiles and fired them, damaging him.

Replica Roxas then got to the center f the field where he started to glow as 13 small pillars that created a barrier around him as he started to float into the air and sent out rays of light across the field as it then changed the sky of the arena. "Come on!" he said as he then summon pairs of light orbs as he twirls both of his Keyblades and started send out homing energy projectiles at Hinata.

"Oh boy!" She thought as she sent chakra to feet to quickly dodged the light orbs.

Back on the outside. . .

Kakashi looked at Xion. "Your boyfriend is incredible."

"How'd you know he was my boyfriend?" Xion said in a panic.

"So he is?" Kakashi then eye-smiled.

"Dang you Kakashi. . ." She muttered.

"That's what I meant with the 'troublesome' from earlier." Shikamaru started to explain.

"That he would get stronger?" Choji asked.

"Yup, opponents like these always seem to get stronger during a battle."

Back in the battle. . .

Hinata was panting heavily. "Heal!" Hinata quickly recovered her energy as she rushed into him again. "Gotta end this now!" She muttered as she started to glow. "Hyuga Arcanum!" She called out as infused her chakra into the magic in her keyblade, creating a sphere of magic-infused chakra to form at the Keyblade's end. "Take this!" She said as she released the attack, the sphere then broke apart into sixty-four smaller spheres. She then got into the stance as an aura of blue light then appeared around her as it then reshaped itself into a lion. She then moved her keyblade around as the spheres dive-bombed into Replica Roxas. Hinata then rushed in and delivered the blow straight through him as Replica Roxas fell to the ground. "Done. . ." Hinata said while panting. "That move always gets me. . ." She lightly chuckled.

Back on the outside. . .

Everyone stared at Hinata on the screen after seeing what just happen.

It then registered in Naruto's mind what happened. "She. . . She did it. . .she won!" Naruto then got a wide grin on his face. "That was awesome!"

"Incredible. . . That last move she used was like anything I've seen." Sakura said.

"Interesting coming from the girl with the cow-chest." Sai plainly said, earning him a punch in the face from Naruto and a kick in the nuts from Sakura.

"Alright! Go Hinata!" Kiba roared out as Akamaru barked in agreement.

Shino simply smiled at his former teammate.

"So that was Hinata's new move." Xion said smiling. "She's become a great Keyblade Master."

Lee suddenly had a fire in his eyes. "THAT WAS A MOST YOUTHFUL FIGHT! I HOPE SOON THAT GET TO FIGHT!" Lee said as Tenten palmed her face in embarrassment.

The screen on the computer then started to beep, attracting everyone's attention.

"What?" Xion said as the computer screen suddenly released a blinding light.

Back in the former battle arena. . .

Hinata looked at Roxas. "Wait. Shouldn't he be disappearing?" Suddenly a bright light emitted from him causing Hinata to have to cover her eyes.

A while later, Hinata slowly started to reopen her eyes. She saw that she was at Sora's Station of Awakening, but what looked like a church as she was looking at a statue with a stain glass window above it. Without control of her body, she began to walk the other direction. "What is this?" She then started to hear foot steps.

"Hypocrite, you are the one who has made his heart a prison." A voice said.

Hinata saw a looked like a very tan skinned teenager, white hair and yellow eyes, wearing the familiar Organization XIII Coat. "Who is that?" She thought

"YOU AGAIN!" Another voice said as the source of that voice toke control of the body and ran up to coat wearing boy. "What are you talking about!"

Hinata instantly recognized the voice of Xion. "Sora?" She then came to a deduction. "Could it be. . . that I'm seeing through his eyes?" Hinata continued to watch was happening.

Suddenly another person appeared from a dark aura. This boy wore an outfit similar to Neji's outfit except it was red. He had yellow eyes and had the same face as Sora. "Even if you are not the prisoner." The two said in unison.

"What?" Hinata said as another bright light appeared, causing her to close her eyes this time. Another while past as Hinata once again started to reopen her eyes, this time to see that she was back at the Garden. She then saw then everyone was on the ground rubbing their heads. "Guys!" She ran up to the group and helped each of them to their feet. "What happened?"

Naruto was still rubbing his head. "I don't know exactly, one minute we were complementing on your win and the next thing we know a bright light came from the computer screen." Naruto then noticed Hinata was holding something. "Hey Hinata? What's that?" Naruto asked as he pointed to her hand.

"Hmm?" Hinata slowly opened her palm to find what looked like a keychain that looked like the Nobody Emblem while the charm looked a bit like a shuriken except ot had four holes in it.


	38. Chapter 38

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 38: Battle 2- Catfight Rumble

"It looks like a charm." Naruto said as he looked at the object in Hinata's hand.

Xion then came up to her. "I'll hold this if its alright."

"Sure." Hinata said as she gave her the charm.

Kakashi then came up to Xion. "What was that bright light all about?"

"Yeah? Sakura started. "It was so weird, when light cleared a saw some freaky white haired kid in the Organization XIII outfit."

"You saw that too?" Kiba yelled. "Who was that little brat! I'll show him for calling me a hypocrite!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Wait, wait, wait, are we all saying that we all saw the same thing?" Naruto asked as everyone nodded their heads.

"I'll have to look into this." Xion said as she put the charm in her pocket and went back to the computer. "So, shall we continue?"

Everyone nodded their heads as they gathered around her.

"Alright, Roxas was number thirteen, so next is number twelve, Larxene." Xion explained.

"The lighting user that Hinata fought before." Sakura said.

Xion nodded her head. "Yup. Her nickname was the Savage Nymph."

"I was wondering how she was originally defeated." Hinata asked.

"Let's just say involved a castle, some cards and a very angry Sora." Xion giggled confusing everyone. "Besides she deserved it in the first place especially for being a bitch." Xion then continued to ramble about stuff, but was mumbling so no one but her could hear it.

"Moving on. . ." Kakashi said as he went in front of the portal and read his porn. "When I call your names, come up here." Everyone nodded their heads

"I wonder who will get to fight her?" Naruto asked.

"Well I'm out since I already fought her." Hinata said.

"So who do you think is-" Naruto was about to ask when. . .

"The first person that is going to fight her will be Sakura." Kakashi said.

"M-me!" Sakura asked in surprised tone.

"Yes, even thought you have your monstrous strength and dodging abilities, judging by between yours and Larxene's speed, I believe that this will help you with your own speed and reaction timing."

"Well I guess that makes sense." Sakura said as she went up to the portal.

"Well that's one." Naruto said as he saw Sakura got to the portal and stand near Kakashi.

Hinata placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Sakura will do fine."

Naruto smiled at her. "Your right Hinata." Naruto said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek, causing her to blush.

"The next person that will be going is-" Kakashi was about to say when. . .

"I'm going!" Ino said as she rushed up with a fire in her eyes.

"And why may I ask?"

"Cause I want to teach that blonde bimbo not to be overconfident." Ino ranted.

Everyone except Ino then got a single though in their head. "Aren't you blonde too?"

"Alright, so Sakura and now Ino. One more person to fight Larxene." Hinata said.

"So only three people are aloud in each room?" Naruto asked.

"Well there are some exceptions. Like for Roxas, only one person can go in to the room." Hinata explained.

"How do these rooms know how many people go in at once?" Shikamaru asked as he went up to her."

Hinata shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know. Most of the Organization fight were fought with three people according to Xion."

Shikamaru noticed Tenten drooling again. "She not gonna? Troublesome. . ."

Tenten suddenly dashed into the portal before Kakashi could stop her.

"Tenten!" Everyone called out after she went in.

"Why did she-!" Naruto was about to ask when Lee stopped him.

"Tenten gets like this sometimes when she see an amazing weapon and acts as if she really needs it." Lee explained.

"We better go after her!" Sakura said. "Come on Ino!" She then dashed through the portal.

"Right!" Ino said as she followed Sakura into the portal.

"Sakura! Ino!" Kakashi said as he tried to go through was bounced back by a barrier. "Damn. . ." he muttered. The portal then turned yellow.

"I guess this means that no more people can go in!" Shikamaru said.

Xion activated the live footage on the computer to watch the battle as everyone gathered around her.

(With Sakura, Ino and Tenten)

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING TENTEN!" Sakura yelled. "DID YOU EVEN THINK OF THE CONCEQUNCES OF YOUR ACTIONS!"

Tenten dropped her head in shame. "I'm sorry, it's just when I see amazing weapons I just. . . Snap."

"Lee told us already." Ino said. "But now what do we do since we're in here now?"

The data started to appear in front of them and Larxene appeared as the three got into their battle stance.

"We'll worry about it later. Let's just beat her and get out of her." Sakura said as she ran in to punch her but. . .

"You really think it would be that easy little girl?" Larxene suddenly said as she round-housed Sakura into the nearest pillar.

"Sakura!" Ino and Tenten yelled out as they ran over to her.

"You alright?" Tenten asked.

Sakura groaned in pain. "Yeah I'm alright but. . ." She then glared at Larxene, who was smirking confidently.

Back on the outside.

Hinata just witnessed what happened and became wide-eyed. "Something's wrong. She never talked or smirked like that before. All she did was laugh."

"Are you saying that something might've happened before we came here?" Kakashi asked.

"Xion?" Hinata asked.

"I-I don't know!" Xion said in a panic. "This didn't happened with your fight with Roxas! What could be different?"

Back in the battle.

"Oh what poor little girls." Larxene sarcastically said. "And here I thought I was going to have a decent challenge."

A vein then appeared on Sakura's forehead. "CHA! WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU BITCH?"

"Sakura calm down." Ino said as she then looked at Larxene. "Something's wrong. We watched Hinata's fight with what ever her name was and all she did was laugh, never talked."

"I think I regret coming in." Tenten muttered.

"Too clever. By the way, my name is Larxene. So. . . Are you enjoying your stay at the garden? I bet it's nice to feel as though you think you can get strong, knowing when you can't." She then started to chuckle.

"Alright you, what the hell is going on? How are you talking?" Sakura asked as she started to heal from the kick.

Larxene then started to glare at the three. "Jeez I hate kids. First I lost to that brat Sora and now I got to fight these three little girls."

Back on the outside, Xion took notice of what Larxene just said. "How does she- No it could be!" She muttered

Sakura then came to a deduction as she stood back on her feet. "Are you. . . The same Larxene that lost to Sora?"

Larxene smirked as she raised her hand. "Bingo." She sang-song. "After I lost to the brat, me and the other members expect those lucky bastards Roxas and Axel got sent into the data realm to protect some big secret. But unfortunately. . ." Larxene then summoned out her knives as lighting surrounded her. "I'm gonna kill you here and now!" Larxene opens with an intense lightning volley that succeeds in knocking the three women back.

Back outside. . .

"N-no way. . ." Hinata muttered.

"Troublesome, not only are going to be fighting the Organization members, but the actual members." Shikamaru said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"THESE WILL BE EVEN MORE YOUTHFUL FIGHTS THEN EVER!" Lee cried out."

"I wonder why she is like that? Is she PMSing? Or is she-" Sai was asking until he was smacked on the head by Naruto.

"Shut up and watch the fight." Naruto said as he continued doing what he said.

Xion was still watching the fight. "I can understand that Roxas went back to Sora, but what happened to Axel?" She muttered.

Back in the battle. . .

"Crap!" Sakura recovers quickly and attempts to punch the woman. "SHANNAROOO!" She screamed as she connects, but Larxene splits into three to battle the women at once.

"Aw, is that all you can do?" All three Larxenes sarcastically said in unison. All three clones proceed to rush their respective opponents, prepared to stab them in vital areas.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura yelled as she responds by unleashing her earthquake punch.

"Oooooh," Larxene sarcastically said. "So your from a world with abnormal strength. Big deal."

Ino pulls out a kunai and parries the attack made by her clone. "Like that little trick will work on me blondie!" Ino then unveiled a waist-mounted automatic senbon launcher as started trying to fire some at her, only getting one her clone's arm. She then rushed in and punched her in where the senbon hit as the clone went into the pillar.

"Take this!" Tenten yelled as she unleashes her own volley of weapons against her clone. She then rushed in with two samurai blades as she then quickly launched her clone into the air. "Take this! Blades Lotus!" Tenten started to ascend into the air while spinning as she then used the blunt side of the blades to slam the clone back into the ground and then rushed into her for a cross slash as she then back-flipped away from the. "I gotta hand it to sensei, learning my own version of the Primary Lotus was a good idea." she thought.

Back outside. . .

"Gai you are too much." Kakashi muttered as he rubbed his head.

"Wow, they've gotten better." Xion said. "They're even holding their own against an Organization member.

"Yeah." Hinata said.

"Alright! Go Sakura! Go Ino. Go Tenten!" Naruto cheered.

"YOSH TENTEN! YOUR TRAINING WITH GAI-SENSEI WASMOST YOUTHFUL! ESPECIALLY SINE YOU CAME UP WITH YOUR VARIATION OF MY OWN PRIMARY LOTUS!" Lee said with tears coming out of his eyes.

Back in the battle. . .

The Larxene clones disappeared, making the girls relax their guard for the briefest of moments. "I guess we're safe for the-" Sakura was saying when suddenly Ino was hit by the clones' aerial assault. "Ino!"

"Not bad little girls." Larxene said as she watched Sakura healed Ino. " But it's now time to end this!" She then started to glow yellow as more lightning covered her body.

After a quick healing from Sakura. "Let's rush in together now." she whispered

Ino and Tenten nodded as they then charged into the Larxene clones head on, only to be met by Larxene unleashing a sweeping lightning strike across the arena as Tenten jumped into the air.

"What the!" Sakura said as she tried to move her body but could.

Back outside. . .

"Of course." Kakashi said drawing everyone's attention.

"What do mean Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Using her knives, they're used as conductors as she sends lightning throughout the arena , since Sakura and Ino were on the ground, they became paralyzed from the flow of electricity."

"How are they going to get out of is?" Hinata asked.

"Just watch. There are smart girls. They'll come up with something." Kakashi said as he looked back at the screen.

Back in the battle. . .

"Lightning. . . I got it!" Tenten said as she summoned and threw a large metal spear at the center of the arena, having it act like a lightning rod to draw Larxene's attack.

"What!" Larxene yelled.

"Here Sakura!" Ino called out as she lend her chakra to Sakura with her new technique, which allows her to lend her chakra to a friend through a psychic

"SHANNAROOO!" Sakura yelled as she punch Larxene as she then slammed her into the ground. She then back back-flipped back to Ino and Tenten.

"This can't be happening!" Larxene muttered, she slowly tried to get back up but was stumbling as she started to disappear back into data. "No! Not again! I think I'm. . . I'm fading? No, this isn't. . . the way I. . .I won't. . .ALLOW. . ." She couldn't get to finish as she completely faded away.

The three girls started panting as Sakura started to heal herself along with Ino and Tenten. "We did it." Sakura said.

"Yeah." Ino said.

Tenten nodded her head.

Back outside. . .

"Whew, they beat her." Kakashi said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah." Naruto said.

"That's two down now." Xion said. "But now we know something important."

"Yeah, that the real Organization XIII members are here through these portals." Shikamaru said as he strangely started to look at the portal with a scythe on it.

Suddenly there was beeping heard on the computer and as everyone looked at the screen, another bright light appeared.

Back with Sakura's group. . .

"So how do we get back?" Ino asked. She never got an answer when suddenly a bright blinding cause the three to cover their eyes.

As everyone reopened their eyes they noticed something different from last time. The first thing being that they could see each other, but the second thing. . .

"Ah what the heck! I'm see through!" Naruto yelled as he looked at his hand.

"Where are we now?" Sakura asked as she looked around.

"Looks like a beach." Ino said as she looked at the sunset. "Pretty."

"It's so peaceful here." Hinata said. "Right Xion?"

Xion stood paralyzed as she knew where they were. "How. . .?"

"Hmm. . . Xion, you know where we are?" Kakashi asked.

Xion smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah." She then pointed at the Paopu Tree. "We're-" Xion was about to say when they noticed a man on the beach. He was a tall young man with brown hair that reaches to the base of his neck in the back and is styled into rather messy, vertical spikes and bangs that frame his face. He has blue eyes and slightly tanned skin. "Who is that?" They then noticed that he started to walk into the shack and the group decided to follow him.

"So where are we?" Naruto asked.

The man soon got out of the shack and started to walk down the bridge when. . .

"Hey! Slow down! Could you just wait for me!" A little boy said as the man and group heard running come from behind. They all then saw two little boys, one of them had light brown spiky hair, blue eyes and was wearing a white polo shirt with blue lining, albeit without the collar present on most polo shirts. He also wore red shorts with a maroon pocket on each leg, as well as brown sandals with yellow straps.

The other boy had sliver hair, blue eyes and wore high-collared, sleeveless yellow shirt with a zipper that reaches to roughly the location of his sternum. He wore black shorts and white shoes with grey soles and blue stripes on either side. He also had light blue wristbands on each of his hands, along with a thinner, yellow band around each blue one. "Giving up already? Come on Sora."

"That enough! I can't run anymore!" The two then ran on to the tree branch and sat down on it.

"No way. . ." Sakura muttered.

"Are those two-!" Hinata asked but she saw Xion with a surprised look on her face.

"Sora and Riku. . ." Xion muttered.

"They look so cute!" Ino squealed with delight.

"I'm starting to think this maybe an image of the past." Kakashi deducted.

"No, ya think?" Naruto sarcastically replied as the group then saw the man leave before he quickly looked back.

"Light." He said as he looked at the young Riku. "Was I guided here to meet that boy?" He then turned back around and headed back to the beach with the group following as they then watch the man as he started to think.

"I wonder what he's thinking?" Kiba asked.

"We since we don't really know this guy-" Kakashi was starting to explain when the man turned around to see Riku.

Riku then looked toward the man and the group (although he didn't see the group.) "Hey? Did you come from the outside world?"

"Well that was a blunt question." Sai said.

"I'm gonna have to guess that some people know about other worlds." Shino said as he continued watching.

The man gasped. "Why would you say that?"

"Because no one lives out here. And I know your not from the main island" Riku explained.

"Smart kid." Kakashi said.

"Smart kid." The man said.

Naruto looked at Kakashi. "How'd you do that!"

"Coincidence. " Kakashi explained.

"So how about you? What are you doing here?" The man asked the young Riku.

"Oh, my friend's dad took us out on a boat. This is where we like to play. But they won't let us row out here by ourselves, not until we get older." Riku said as he started to kick the sand.

"Must be hard huh? Stuck in one place." The man said as he started to walk towards the ocean.

"I heard once there was a kid who left for good." Riku said as looked out towards the ocean.

"So Riku's dream was to see the outside world?" Sakura asked.

Xion nodded her.

Riku then turned his head towards the man. "So how'd you get here anyway?"

The man hesitated for a moment. "Is there some reason your interested in the outside world?"

Riku then turned his head to the ocean. "Yeah. I wanna be strong one day. Like that kid who left. He went to the outside world- I'd bet he's really strong now. I know it's out there somewhere, the strength that I need."

"Strength for what?" The man asked.

"Yeah Riku, for what?" Xion muttered as it interested Kakashi a bit.

"To protect the things that matter." Riku said as the group smiled. "You know like my friends."

"That's the right strength a person need." Naruto said.

Hinata then leaned into him. "Yeah."

The man smiled. "Outside this tiny world is a much bigger one." The man then walked up to Riku and held out his hand, shocking the group.

"He's not gonna-!" Naruto was asking.

"No way!" Sakura said in surprise.

Xion and Hinata became wide-eyed. "Xion?" Hinata asked.

Xion shushed Hinata as they watched.

The man then summoned out a keyblade that was a dark brown color, with brass edges. The teeth are made of two pick-like points, with two hammer-like protrusions on the opposite side. The guard is an off-blue color, and seems to be crafted from two Omega insignias (Ω). The pommel is a dark blue cone. The Keychain token is a reddish rock fragment with brass armor-like plating.

"He's a keyblade wielder!" Naruto exclaimed.

Tenten was drooling again at the sight of the man's keyblade. "Shiny."

"Stop it Tenten, this is a serious moment." Lee said.

"Xion, is he?" Hinata asked.

"I think so." Xion said as she watched the man kneel down to Riku holding his keyblade out sideways as he then held out the guard.

"In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking. . . its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me friend."

"What's he saying? An oath?" Sakura muttered.

"The passing of the torch." Kakashi muttered as he turned to Xion. "Right?"

Xion nodded her head. "Yeah."

"No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love." The man finished saying as Riku slowly reached out and gripped the man's keyblade.

"So this is-?" Hinata asked.

"I guess so. How Riku gained his keyblade wielding abilities." Xion said.

"Riku!" A voice called out, attracting the attention of everyone to see Sora at the docks waving to him. "C'mon, hurry it up!" Riku waved back to him as the man send his keyblade away.

"You've gotta keep this a secret, okay? Otherwise, all the magic will wear off." The man said as Riku nodded his head. The man started to chuckle as he rubbed Riku's head, causing Riku to laugh too. The group couldn't help but chuckle as well.

Suddenly another bright flash pf light only the group saw covered everything, causing everyone to cover their eyes. After a while the light disappeared and the group realized that they were back at the garden, fully conscious this time.

Everyone was silent for a moment when Kakashi started. "Well. . . That was something. . ."

Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah. At least we learned what matters."

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, like our friendship."

"Our love." Hinata said as she kissed Naruto.

"Our teamwork." Kakashi said.

"Our comrades." Kiba said as he pet Akamaru, who barked in agreement.

"That was indeed a most youthful statement said by Riku." Lee softly said.

Tenten then went in closer to the group with a depressed look on her face. "Hey. Sorry about. . . Well you know. . ."

Ino smiled. "It's alright Tenten. When we get back home I'll help you break that urge."

Tenten smiled back as she then noticed something her hands. She looked to see she had eight familiar yellow knives. "How did I-! These were Larxene's!"

"I guess it's sort of a reward for beating her." Hinata said.

Tenten opened a blank scroll as she sealed Larxene's knives away.


	39. Chapter 39

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 39: Team Asuma Vs the Graceful Assassin

In Konoha. . .

Hiashi was watching Hanabi training her Gentle Fist style when a branch member came up to him.

"Lord Hiashi, the elder request to see you." the branch member said.

Hiashi nodded his head and turned to Hanabi. "That's enough for now Hanabi."

"Of course father." Hanabi said as she bowed to him and left.

Hiashi then followed the branch member to where he then met the elders of the Hyuga Clan. "To what do I owe the pleasure, honorable elders?"

Back at the Garden of Assemblage. . .

The group was taking a short break after the fight with Larxene. Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and Tenten were taking a nap, Kakashi was reading his usual porn, Xion was still trying to find out more of the visions that were shown so far, Sakura and Ino were healing from the fight, Sai was drawing, and Shikamaru and Choji (still eating a bag of chip) were both eyeing the portal with the scythe on it.

Xion started to rub her head in frustration. "I don't get this? Why are the actual Organization members in these portals? What are these images being shown after we beat a member? This all so-"

"Troublesome?" Shikamaru said finishing her sentence, still looking at the portal.

"Exactly!" Xion exclaimed as she then noticed Shikamaru and Choji looking at the portal. "Something bugging you guys?"

Shikamaru and Choji then turned to her. "Yeah. . ." Choji started. "I don't know why but, something about that portal is making me anxious. . ."

"Xion then turned to Shikamaru. "And you Shikamaru?"

"It's troublesome but. . ." Shikamaru started. "but for some reason I feel as though that fighting whoever owns that scythe will help me in the future. . ."

Xion then thought for a moment. "Maybe it's something like when Hinata wanted to fight Larxene the last time me and her were here. Maybe it's your instincts telling you."

"That might be possible." Shikamaru muttered as Choji nodded his head in agreement.

"Then it settled! You two along with some else will fight the owner of the scythe." Xion said. "Do you have any request for a third person to fight with you?"

Shikamaru immediately answered. "Ino, the three of us are the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and we already have great teamwork together. I know she just fought that last match," Shikamaru looked at Ino to see she was fully healed and was eyeing the same portal. "but I think she's willing to fight as well."

Choji nodded his head in agreement. "We're a team since we graduated from the academy, I think this will help with our teamwork."

"Alright then it's settled, the next group that will be fight is the Ino-Shika-Cho team!" Xion announced.

"Alright!" Ino cheered

The sleeping ninja woke up as Xion announced the next group.

"Hey Naruto!" Choji called out as he, Shikamaru and Ino headed for the portal. He then threw something towards Naruto as he caught. What Naruto caught was Choji's bag of potato chips. "Hold on to those, and don't eat the entire bag, it's my last one."

"I'll try not to eat them." Naruto said as he smiled and then gave him a thumbs-up.

"Good luck you guys." Hinata said.

"Thanks." Shikamaru said as he smirked.

"We aren't going to lose that easily!" Ino announced.

"Don't be overconfident, it could lead to your downfall." Shino said monotony.

"Bring him or her down!" Kiba cheered as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I'll take care of your wounds when you get back." Sakura said.

"MAKE THE FIGHT YOU ARE IN A MOST YOUTHFUL ONE!" Lee exclaimed causing everyone to sweat drop.

"Take him, her or whatever it is out." Tenten said. "Maybe I could get that beautiful scythe afterwards." she muttered as she wickedly smiled.

"Shikamaru, Ino, Choji." The three then turned to Kakashi as he threw them some communicators, "I would also like to test to see if they would work if it works in the battle arena. Oh and good luck with the fight."

"I got it." Shikamaru said as he, Choji and Ino equipped the communicators.

"Well. . . We better head in." Ino said as she swallowed.

"Nervous?" Choji asked.

Ino nodded her head. "After Larxene, this one is a rank above her, it will probably be tougher."

Choji then place a hand his companions shoulder, causing Ino to blush a little. "Don't worry, we'll make through this."

Shikamaru smiled at Ino. "Choji's right. I may be a lazy bastard, but I known as the Lazy Genius. Now let's get this down so I can take a nap after this." Shikamaru then headed into the portal.

"Right behind you!" Choji and Ino announced as they also headed in.

The remaining head towards the computer where Xion monitored the battle.

"Xion, what can you say about this person they'll be fighting?" Kakashi asked.

Xion was silent for a moment.

"Xion?" Hinata asked.

"I. . . don't know. . ." Xion muttered.

In the battle arena, Shikamaru, Choji and Ino appeared at the same white-posted circular arena, but his time there was a flower engraving in the center of it and the scenery was white.

"Get ready everyone." Shikamaru said as he got into a battle stance.

Choji and Ino nodded as they did the same.

Data streams appeared before her eyes, twisting and turning until the form of a long, pink-haired being took shape. The figure smiled, but seemed to radiate an aura of malicious intent. Flower petals flew around like flies which interested Ino

Everyone both in the fight and watching outside had the same reaction wondering 'What the hell!'

"Uh. . . Xion?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah?" Xion replied.

"I thought you said that you and Larxene were the only female members."

Xion then got a closer look at the nobody. "Oh god. . ." She muttered.

"What?"

"Troublesome. . . Another female. . ." Shikamaru muttered as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Ino squinted her eyes to look closely at the nobody, then became wide-eyed. "That isn't a female. . ."

The nobody bowed to the group. "Good day to you, my opponents." He said.

Everyone then had a full body flush at the realization of his gender.

"This is so wrong. . ." Naruto muttered as he was starting to feel sick.

Sakura was twitching along with Tenten, Kiba tried to claw his eyes out but was stopped by Akamaru and Shino, Kakashi palmed his face as Sai looked blankly at the screen, Lee didn't know what to think.

Back in the arena, Choji was feeling a little sick along with Ino as Shikamaru palmed his face.

"Troublesome. . . A homo. . ." Shikamaru muttered but was heard.

"WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP THINKING THAT? I'M NOT GAY!" he roared as a tick mark appeared on his forehead. "I'm just a man that loves flowers! Is that so wrong?"

"Nah, their isn't a problem," Ino confidently said as she got into her stance. "It just doesn't look good on you."

"Before we start, I would like to know the name of the foes that would be defeated by me. For I am Marluxia, the Organization's Graceful Assassin.." As he suddenly got a flower in his hand.

"How can you be an assassin if you use flower petals?" Choji asked.

"Well my fat friend I-" Marluxia then noticed Shikamaru and Ino backing away from Choji as he started to stutter and a blue aura started appearing around him.

"Did I hear that right? What did that guy just say?" Choji muttered as he started to twitch.

Back on the outside. . .

"Now I remember! Marluxia is the one who lured Sora to Castle Oblivion!" Xion pointed out.

"Good to know now that the guy's going to get his ass handed to him!" Kiba said in a panic.

"What do you mean?" Xion asked.

"Let's just say that for Choji, you must NEVER call him the f word." Sakura said remembering how Choji reacted back in the Forest of Death.

Back in the arena of the future slaughter- I mean battle. . .

"Brief introductions, I'm Shikamaru Nara, that's Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka. Now let's just start before-" Shikamaru was saying when. . .

Marluxia then started to hold a rose and started to laugh after examining Choji. "Oh, did I struck a nerve? I wonder what else causes you to get upset? Fatso? Fatty? Oh I can list the names." Marluxia then continued with the names.

"Oh god is this guy asking for a death wish!" Shikamaru muttered

"He's screwed. . ." Ino thought.

After a minute for Choji to register what he said. . .

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING FAT? I JUST BIG-BONED!" Choji yelled out, completely pissed as his chakra started to raise to the amount of three jonins. "HOORAY FOR BIG-BONED!" he then cheered like a madman.

Back outside. . .

"Wha?" Xion asked, completely confused.

"Oh this guy's a dead man now." Kakashi muttered.

Back at the arena. . .

Marluxia smirked as he raised his hand. A single rose petal fell into his hands and it then morphed into a large scythe where the handle was a pastel green color, and the blade is a rose pink. He then went into his battle stance. "Are you ready to get lost in my garden?" He suddenly then disappeared.

"Where did he-" Shikamaru muttered before he heard a whisper in his ear.

"Doom. . ."

The three then caught a whiff of a sweet flowery scent which gave them a strange, tingling sensation that seemed to penetrate down into their cores. They leapt away, but Marluxia already reappeared ten feet from them.

"What was that!" Choji yelled.

Marluxia laughed. "Well my portly friend, thanks to the spell that I just whispered: your bodies will be unblemished from damage. However, for every cut that you three take from my scythe, you'll feel its wrath within the beating chambers of your hearts."

"What!" The three exclaimed.

Back outside. . .

"You gotta be kidding me! He made them into living voodoo dolls?" Kiba asked in a panicking tone as Akamaru started to get a little scared.

"I guess so." Kakashi muttered. "No wonder he's an assassin."

Naruto then started growl. "Damn, I hope they can beat him." He muttered.

Back in the fight. . .

"Scatter!" Shikamaru called out as the three separated as Marluxia conjured up black circles on the floor, him being in the center.

"Bastard!" Choji muttered as he got ready to use his signature jutsu. "SPIKY HUMAN BOULDER!" He yelled as he charged into him after the black circles disappeared.

"Take this!" Ino yelled as she started firing multiple senbon at him.

Marluxia then warped before the senbon could hit as he then threw his scythe with much force that is should has sliced Ino in two when as she closed her eyes.

"Ino!" Shikamaru and Choji yelled.

As she opened her eyes, she realized that she was still together in one piece. No scratches or anything. "What the? Nothing happened!" She spoke too soon as she then felt a agonizing pain at her heart, causing her to go to her knees.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said as he tried to bind Marluxia with his shadow but he kept warping. "So this is what he meant!"

Choji then went over to her. "You alright?"

Ino nodded her head as she slowly got up. "I'm alright. Let's take this homo out."

Choji chuckled as he then glared at Marluxia. "Your going down now!" Choji then took out a glass case with three pills in it. One red, one yellow and one green.

"Choji! Your not gonna-!" Shikamaru yelled out Marluxia tried to attack him but dodged it.

"Stay here. . ." Choji demand as he looked back at Ino and ate the green pill. "I will protect my friends!" He thought.

Back outside. . .

"What did Choji just eat!" Xion asked.

Kakashi rubbed his head. "The Akimichi's Three colored pills. By forcibly converting the body's fat reserves into chakra, each successive pill ingested gives a tremendous power boost." Kakashi explained as he then noticed Choji putting away the other two pill. "What's he up to?" he muttered. "Asuma. . . What kind of training did you give him?"

Back in the battle. . .

Choji started to crack his knuckles as dark green chakra surrounded him. "I promise Asuma-Sensei I would only use the pills against a strong opponent. I'm saving the last two pill for even stronger opponents." He then glared as Marluxia. "Hey homo!" He yelled out as Marluxia, drawing his attention.

"What!" Marluxia yelled back as he noticed the changes. "What in the-?" He didn't get to finish, mainly cause by a enlarge fist to the face, sending him into a pillar.

Ino looked at her teammate dumbstruck at what he just did. "Choji?"

"So this is the result of the training huh pal?" Shikamaru said as he got back up.

"Yup. Thanks to the endurance training, I no longer feel the pain from at least the green and yellow pills. Although I don't know why the color of my chakra changes now." Choji explained as he turned o Marluxia as he recovered. "I'm more like a brick wall now!" He then charged into Marluxia. "Partial Expansion Jutsu! Arm!" His right arm then grew again as was about to slam into Marluxia, but he warped. "Damn!"

Marluxia then started to glow pink as flower pedals started to blow around the arena and got darker. "Face your doom!" He then disappeared.

"Where did he-?" The muttered as they then realized that they had to start moving.

"What the-?" Choji exclaimed as he was moving to see dark pillars coming from the ground.

"The hell!" Ino yelled as she dodged her own pillars.

"Troublesome!" Shikamaru muttered as he too dodged his own pillars as the three then got to the center of the stage.

"Where is he?" Ino asked as she saw Shikamaru surveying the arena.

"Above!" Shikamaru yelled out as he then got hit by Marluxia's attack. "Damn." He muttered as he held his chest in pain.

"We gotta end this now!" Choji said as Marluxia did another one of his move, this time quickly moving around the arena spinning his scythe around him as if he was a saw. "Ino, give some chakra quickly!"

Ino nodded her head. "Chakra sharing jutsu!" Ino then placed a hand on Choji's back and sent some chakra into him.

"Thanks, now go heal Shikamaru!"

"Right!" Ino then did as he said and went to Shikamaru.

Marluxia stopped trying to be strategic as he wildly started slashed his scythe. "I'll scatter your heart to the empty winds!"

"You first!" Choji yelled as he grabbed Marluxia's scythe and ripped it out of his hands. "Super Expansion Jutsu!" Choji then grew three times as he then grabbed Marluxia and threw him into the air. "IT'S OVER HOMO!" Choji then threw Marluxia's Scythe back at him.

As the blade penetrated his person, Marluxia's form exploded into tiny data pieces, evaporating into nothingness. The three started panting as they defeated their foe and Choji went back to his normal size and fell on his butt.

Back outside. . .

"Whoa. . ." Xion said.

The rest of the group let out a sigh of relief that they weren't killed.

"I'll have to treat them when they come back out of there." Sakura deduct.

"Endurance training to resist against the pills." Kakashi muttered. "He'll have to tell the rest of the Akimichi Clan about this."

Woohoo! Go Choji that was awesome!" Kiba cheered as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Indeed, they have gotten stronger." Shino said.

"Hmm. . ." Naruto muttered

"What is it Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Isn't this about the time when-" He didn't get to finish as the bright light came out from the screen, causing everyone to cover their eyes again.

Back in the arena. . .

"Three. . . Two. . . One" Shikamaru counted as the light appeared and blinded the group.

As everyone reopened their eyes, they saw that they were at the same place again.

"Destiny Island again." Xion said as she stared at the sunset.

"I wonder what we're going to see now?" Naruto asked.

"Probably something important again." Hinata said.

The group then saw a woman with short blue hair. She was wearing a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts. On her arms are white bell-sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. She also wears a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms. She wears what appear to be black stockings or socks on her legs which reach to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs. She was walking along the bridge to the Paopu tree. As she saw the tree she put out what looked like a charm

Kakashi looked at the woman, intrigued in a perverted way. Sakura noticed it and glared a him angrily. "I'll be good." Kakashi said depressingly.

"Terra. . ." The woman started saying. "Ven. . ."

That caught Xion's interest. "She knows Ven?" She thought.

"I hope we're ready for the storm that's coming." The woman finished saying.

"What's she talking about?" Sakura asked. Everyone shrugged their shoulders as they then heard panting.

Naruto started to chuckle. "I think I know who that is."

Shikamaru then started to chuckle as well. "Yup. The kids." The group then saw two familiar kids running along the beach, obviously racing.

"Hey, wait up!" A young Sora said.

"Too slow, Sora! See ya at the finish line!" A young Riku said. The two continued running until they got under the bridge. Riku fist-pumped the air as Sora was panting heavily.

Sora then turned to Riku. "One more time! You just got lucky."

Riku then saw the woman walking along the bridge as Sora looked at her too.

"I'm gonna have to guess that she's a keyblade wielder too." Hinata deduct.

"Probably." Xion said.

The woman smiled as she came down from the bridge, briefly shocking Sora but started to chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. The woman then looked at both boys and then started to chuckle. "One of you might be special enough."

"Oh, so this might be when Sora gets his keyblade?" Naruto asked.

Xion nodded her head and chuckled. "I don't think so."

"Why's that?" Kiba asked.

"Just continue watching." Xion ordered. "And Kakashi, please stop looking at her like that."

"Aw. . ."

"Hey, you two mind telling me your names?" The woman asked.

"Getting straight to the point huh?" Shino said, but was ignored as everyone continued watching.

"I'm Sora!" he happily announced as he raised his hand.

The woman then turned to Riku. "And you?

"Riku." He firmly said

"Plain and simple." Shino said as he noticed that no one was listening, he then started to twitch again.

"Sora, do you like Riku?" The woman asked.

Naruto started to feel awkward at the question until Sakura hit him on the head. "Not that way you idiot!" she yelled as Hinata did a cure spell on his bump.

"Of course I like him, he's my best friend!" Sora said as Choji and Shikamaru started to chuckle.

"Good. So then, if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost or say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone you make sure to stay with him and keep him safe." The woman said as the two boys looked at each other. "That's your job Sora, and I'm counting on you to do it, okay?"

"Getting straight to the point huh?" Ino said as she started to chuckle.

The woman then started to rub Sora and Riku's heads as they started to laugh. The group couldn't help but chuckle as well.

"I guess this part of the reason Sora cares so much for his friends huh?" Hinata asked as they saw Sora and Riku walk away from the woman.

"Pretty much." Xion said as they saw the woman go back onto the bridge and sat on the Paopu Tree.

"One Keyblade is enough. . . For any friendship. I learned it the hard way. I wouldn't wish our lives on those children." She then looked at her blue star shaped charm. "Terra, please tell me what to become of us?"

"What happened between her and her friends?" Hinata muttered as the blinding light appeared, causing everyone to cover their eyes again.

Soon the light dimmed and they were all back in the garden and Choji was holding Marluxia's scythe.


	40. Chapter 40

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 40: The Genius Vs the Gambler of Fate

In Konoha. . .

Hiashi was furious after the meeting he had with the elders.

"Those ingrates. . . How could they even think this? They will not get away with this!" Hiashi muttered.

"Father!" Hanabi called out as she came over to him. "What happened?"

Hiashi clenched his fist. "The elders. . ." He hesitated for a second. "Where's Hinata?"

Hanabi winced. She knew where she was but promised not to tell. "She's on a training journey with her friends."

Hiashi then felt relaxed and had a sigh of relief. "Good, at least she's away for now."

Hanabi was confused now. "What do you mean? What happened with the elders?"

"Well you see. . ."

At the Garden of Assemblage. . .

Hinata sneezed while examining her keyblade. "Someone must be talking about me." she muttered.

Tenten was admiring Marluxia's scythe as she then sealed in the same scroll as Larxene's knives. Xion was looking at the charm that Hinata won from her fight with data Roxas. Naruto was doing some stretches along with Lee. Sakura was healing the remaining wounds that Ino had. Kakashi was again reading his usual porn. Choji was eating his chips again.

Shikamaru then came up to him. "So Choji, you alright? I mean after eating the green pill."

Choji smiled at his best friend. "Yup. I gotta thank Asuma-sensei when we get back for the endurance training we both did."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Yeah."

"Alright everyone gather around." Xion called out as she pocket the charm.

Everyone did as she said.

"What's up Xion?" Naruto asked. "The person for the next been chosen?"

"Not that but I found a video on the next person that one of us will fight."

"One person?" Sakura asked.

"Yup, the fight is a single person fight but it also has specific rules."

"Really? Then count me out I hate listening to rule!" Naruto said.

"What kind of rules are they?" Sakura asked.

Xion then pointed at the next portal with the card on it. "His name was Luxord, I remember when I was still in the Organization and while was in Sora. He possesses the power of time manipulation. He-"

"Wait, you mean like he actually controls time? That would be a difficult opponent to beat." Kakashi said.

"He was for Sora. He also uses his ability to force his opponents to play timed games, with unfortunate consequences if they cannot learn the rules and lose." Xion finished explaining as she then noticed everyone chuckling. "What's up?"

"If it's a game then it's oblivious whose going." Choji said as he looked at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru then noticed everyone staring at him and started rubbing the back of his head. "Troublesome, I'm not getting out of this am I?"

"Nope!" Everyone said, smiling at him.

Shikamaru then sweat drop. "Figured, just because I pay shogi I would be the best choice." he muttered.

Come on Shikamaru! Be more enthusiastic, you'll totally wipe the floor against this guy! And no giving up this time, it's not like your chunin exam fight with Temari!" Ino cheered.

"Your going to keep hounding at me that aren't you?" Shikamaru asked in a irritated tone.

"Yup!" Ino happily said.

Shikamaru started to head up to the portal. "Troublesome." He then noticed Naruto running up to him. "What now Naruto?" he said in an annoyed tone.

"Just wanted to wish you luck. Naruto said as he gave his usual smile.

Shikamaru yawned as he looked at the portal. "Yeah whatever."

"Aw come on man! Just beat the sucker with your tactics!" Naruto said as he pat him on the back as Shikamaru started to loose his balance.

Shikamaru started to stumble. "Wait! Naruto! Don't-" Too late, Naruto knocked him in the portal as it then turned yellow.

Everyone was awestruck at what just happened.

"Uh. . . Whoops. . ." Naruto said as he lightly chuckled.

"Did that just happen?" Ino muttered.

"Yup." Choji said as he sweat dropped.

"Somehow I expected something like this to happen." Kakashi said.

Shikamaru arrived at an area that is sloped with a simulation version of the Kingdom Hearts moon. Shikamaru was laying on the ground staring at the moon as he started to think. "Ugh stupid Naruto for knocking me in here, I was going to be a so-so ninja and earn an ok salary, marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful ninja, and spend the rest of my life playing shogi or Go. Then die of old age before my wife." he thought as he got up. "Troublesome." He yawned as he waited for his opponent to appear.

Back outside, everyone was gathered around as they watched Shikamaru waiting for his opponent,

"Is he always like this?" Xion asked.

"Yup." Choji and Ino said in semi-unison.

Kiba started to chuckle. "The only time he didn't act like this was during the Sasuke Retrieval Mission two and a half years ago." Akamaru then barked in agreement.

"Uh Kiba?" Hinata said as she tapped his shoulder.

"Yeah?" Kiba asked Hinata pointed at Naruto and Sakura in fetal position muttering Sasuke. Everyone then sweat-dropped at this as Akamaru whined a bit.

Hinata then went and tapped Naruto on the shoulder as she then picked him up. Lee did the same thing for Sakura.

"Don't worry Naruto, we're going to get him back." Hinata said as she smiled at her boyfriend. "Hopefully, along with Neji." She thought.

Back in the arena. . .

The data started to appear as it then revealed a platinum blond hair is very short and worn in a Caesar cut, and he has blue eyes, he also had a beard and goatee with the same blond color as his hair, he finally had five silver piercings on his ears; four helix piercings in the form of two hoops on each ear and one piercing shaped like the Nobody symbol dangling from one earlobe.

"So you're my opponent huh?" Shikamaru asked.

Luxord gave her a crafty grin. "I'd rather we just skip the formalities." He snapped his fingers, summoning a transparent screen that hung in the air. After a few seconds, the display lit up showing two bars: Shikamaru's and Luxord's."Let's play a game, shall we?" He pointed toward the rapidly decreasing bars. "Those bars represent our time limits. The first to run out of time is the loser."Shikamaru kept his stare locked on Luxord. "What're the stakes?"

Luxord shook his head. "What else?" Then in a puff of smoke, Shikamaru felt his entire body freeze up. "Existence!"

Next thing Shikamaru knew, he was trapped in the form of a dice. "The hell!" As he struggled to make her body move, Luxord chuckled in a sadistic manner. "If you think I'm going to fold," he taunted, "then you're not playing with a full deck!" Two human-sized playing cards appeared from his hands which started to circle around him like a propeller.

Back outside. . .

Xion snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot that he could do that!"

Everyone then face-fault as Xion continued watching.

Back in the arena. . .

Shikamaru in dice form got hit from one of Luxord's attack where he summons an orb of dark energy that creates tendrils of energy around him, striking him no matter where he is. "Ah what a drag! How long am I gonna stay like this!" As soon as the thought formed in his mind, he felt feeling returning to his limbs as he transformed back into his human self. "Whew, that's a relief." He muttered as he shook off the numbness in his body.

"Impressive." Luxord said as two card came at Shikamaru like saw blades. "Scatter!"

Shikamaru then quickly dodged it as he did a 'dragon' hand sign. "Ninja Art! Shadow Slashing Jutsu!" The shadows around Shikamaru then started to come up like tentacles and started slicing some of the cards in half.

Back outside. . .

"Shikamaru's holding his own, for a lazy guy." Naruto said as he chuckled as he then saw him get turned into a card after losing one of Luxord's 'games'. "Oh that's gotta suck."

Ino and Choji then looked at the bars above them. "Their's bars are decreasing quickly." Choji muttered.

The group then saw Shikamaru turn back to normal as he started flipping some of the cards after Luxord turned himself into one.

"This might be a little difficult for Shikamaru." Kakashi said as he then saw Shikamaru use the 'Shadow Possession Jutsu' to stop all the cards from moving. "Never mind."

Back in the arena. . .

Shikamaru started flipping some of the cards when one with a fiery-red spiral on it as it then blew up in his face, but he didn't react to as he blew out the smoke. "Ow." He plainly said as he then flipped another card, but this had a clock on. As he flipped it, he noticed that the time bar started to go down faster for him. "Troublesome! Running out of time!" he muttered. He soon enough found Luxord's card as he turned back to normal as the other seven cards disappeared.

"Impressive once again. . . But. . ." Luxord said as he sky darkened as more cards appeared in his hands. "Look who's on top of the game!" Shikamaru braced himself as the cards flew out in every direction, scattering themselves onto the floor.

"Where did he-!" Shikamaru muttered as he started dodging cards left and right caused by Luxord constantly warping.

"Boy!" Luxord called out as giant cards started to surround him.

Shikamaru tried to run up to him but disappeared as he then turned around to see him. "The final game." he muttered as he saw both their bars nearly empty.

"The last game is simple." Luxord started explaining as he got four cards out that were constantly changing for an X to a circle. "Timing is the key as you must get four circles."

"Troublesome. . ." Shikamaru said as he got into a stance and put his fingers together to create a circle, closing his eyes and started to concentrate. After a few minutes. . . "First card stop. . . Second card stop. . . Third card stop. . . Final card stop. . ." He said as reopened his eyes and smirked.

Back on the outside everyone became wide-eyed and speechless at the results.

Back in the arena. . .

"Looks like I win." He said as he looked at the four cards to see four circles.

"H-how!" Luxord said as his cards went into Shikamaru's hand.

Shikamaru closed his eyes as the cards went into his hand. "Troublesome, I play many games before, you would think that this would be so tough. . ." He muttered as he threw the cards back at him, completely empting his bar.

Luxord was panting heavily as he looked at Shikamaru. "You play the game quite well."

Shikamaru smiled at him as he wrapped a paper-bomb around a kunai. "Thanks." He then threw the kunai as it exploded on Luxord, causing him to fade away.

Back outside. . .

"That was awesome!" Naruto cheered.

"Even the lazy genius won his match." Kakashi muttered. "Asuma would be proud."

"I gotta say that I'm impressed with his skills." Xion said. "But what was with that stance he went into before he commanded the cards to stop?"

Kakashi then turned towards he. "I'll let Asuma explain it to you when we get back." He eye-smiled.

Just then the bright light came out from the screen, causing everyone to cover their eyes again in both the garden and in the arena for Shikamaru.

When the light cleared, the group instantly realized that they weren't at Destiny Island this time. Instead they were at a desert like area where sand blew in the wind and large stone mountain was.

"Where in the worlds are we?" Naruto asked.

"Beats me. I never seen this world before."

"You sure?" Kakashi asked.

Xion nodded her head as she noticed someone in the distance, his most noticeable feature being two large round ears. "Is that?" Xion then started to run over to him.

"Xion wait up!" Hinata said as she and the other ran after her.

When the group got to Xion when she stopped they saw a anthropomorphic mouse with black fur, round ears of the same color, and a thin, long, black tail. He was wearing a completely back outfit and white gloves. He was unconscious for some reason.

"King Mickey!" Hinata said as she recognized him, kneeling down to see if he was alright.

Before anyone could say anything, the group heard panting coming near them. "Mickey!" The group turned to see an identical looking person running towards them.

"Roxas?" Hinata asked as he came over.

"No. . ." Xion said with wide-eyes as the boy came over. "This is. . . Ventus."

"Who?" Naruto asked.

"I'll explain later." Xion bluntly said as the group watched Ventus examine Mickey until. . .

"We meet again, boy." An elderly voice said.

When Ventus and the group turned they saw an old man who was bald except for thin eyebrows and a curled, silver goatee. His ears are pointed and his eyes are yellow. He has broad, hunched shoulders and a crooked back. He wore a white and black coat with a red inner lining, which is worn over a white shirt with two thin black belts, as well as white gloves and calf-high black boots. He was walking towards them.

"Who-?" Xion was about to asked but Ventus beat her to it as he stood up.

"Master Xehanort." he said shocking the group.

"WHHHAAAT! THAT OLD MAN IS XEHANORT!" Naruto yelled out.

"Naruto. . . Be quite. . ." Sakura muttered in a scared tone as everyone nodded in agreement.

Kakashi was silent as he then started to shutter. "This feeling. . .it's worse then Orochimaru. . ." He thought.

Hinata shivered in fear as she and Xion saw a massive dark aura around him.

The group then saw Ventus fall to knees clutching his head in pain as they saw Xehanort starting to smile.

"Ah yes, so you are starting to realize. . .what you lost-oh, but not for good." Xehanort started saying.

"What's he up to?" Naruto angrily muttered.

Xehanort then clenched his hand into a fist. "You had to lose in order to find." He then opened his hand and brought it out in front of Ventus. "Now it can all be yours again, if you only reach out and take it." Xehanort clenched his hand again as if he was holding Ventus in his hands. The group watched as Ventus struggled in pain, still holding his head. "Reclaim the part that left you. Clash with him! Pure light against pure darkness, to forge the ultimate key. The all-powerful _χ-_blade!" The group then watched as Ventus fell to the ground.

"_χ-_blade?" Xion asked.

"No. . ." Kakashi said in shock. "Not that letter. . ."

"You know it Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked as Kakashi nodded his head.

"Key. . .blade?" Ventus muttered.

"Not the Keyblades you and I carry," He said as he magically summoned a representation version of the letter. " _"χ" _. . .A most ancient letter. Some say "kye", but the meaning is the same." He then clenched his hand again, making the letter disappear. "Death. . .A letter that spells endings." He then summoned a dark vortex over Ventus and Mickey.

"My god. . ." Sakura mutter as she started to shiver.

"I don't know if I would want that weapon. . ." Tenten muttered, luck that no one heard her.

"And I have the power to make it?" Ventus asked.

"Correct." Xehanort said as he nodded his head. "Eraqus knows it to. He knows exactly what you are."

"The Master?" Ventus asked again.

"I'm guessing that's this guy teached." Lee muttered.

"Haven't you ever wondered? Why he never granted you permission to leave his side, to grow stronger? Eraqus was frightened of you. If you were to learn the truth, realize what you are. . .He never trusted you. Why else would he keep you within his sight at all times?" Xehanort explained as everyone became wide-eyed.

Naruto then started to get angry as he clenched his fist. "He's. . . just like me. . . Like he's-"

"A Jinchuuriki. . ." Kakashi muttered, completing Naruto's sentence. "Except for a weapon. . . not a demon. . ."

"Naruto. . ." Hinata and Sakura muttered.

"Poor guy." Choji said as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

After a purple lighting almost struck Ventus, he started to get up. "Yeah. He never let me see other worlds, no matter how much I asked."

Xehanort smiled as he sent out a gust of wind. "Go! You can ask the man yourself. Learn the truth, and remember you have a greater purpose!"

The group then watched as Ventus and Mickey got blown away and sucked into the vortex above them.

The scene then changed for the group as they then appear in front of a massive white castle. The group then saw Ventus walking towards it.

"I'm gonna have to guess that this is Ventus's home world." Kakashi deducted.

He didn't get an answer as a tanned younger man with black hair with a mustache and goatee with scars on his face. He was wearing a white, red lined haori that has a hood, along with slightly shorter than normal, light-colored hakama. Underneath his haori, he wears a navy blue shirt with a large white X pattern on the front.

"His teacher. . ." Sakura muttered.

"Ventus, you're alone? I thought Aqua would-" He said as he continued to walk up to him as he then held Ventus's shoulder. "Well, what matters is that your home." He said as Naruto clenched his fist, not knowing what to feel for this, unknown to him that his eyes started to become silted. "You don't belong outside this world yet. You need to say here where you can learn-"

"In your prison?" Ventus angrily asked. Naruto relaxed his fist when he felt Hinata put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him while Naruto smiled back.

"What?" Eraqus asked in shock.

"That's your excuse. . . for keeping me imprisoned here isn't it!"

Eraqus stood back up. "What did you hear?"

Ventus then got into a battle stance. "That I'm suppose to be some weapon. . . Some kind of "_χ-_blade"!"

Eraqus then started to stroke his scars. "I knew it. Xehanort- he could never let it go." He then closed his eyes. After a few moments he reopened them. "I failed. I had the chance to stop him and couldn't do it. But I will not fail again!" He demanded as he summoned his own keyblade and got into a stance.

"No. . . he's not gonna-!" Hinata asked in fear.

"Master! What are you. . ." Ventus asked as he started to back away.

"The '_χ-_blade'has no place in this or any world. Xehanort has made his purpose clear. . .and I am left with no choice. Forgive me. . .but you must exist no more!" Eraqus said as he started to send out a beam of light at Ventus.

"Ventus!" Everyone but Xion, Sai, Shino and Kakashi called out as they closed their eyes in fear.

"Ven!" Xion and another familiar voice said as the blast was deflected. As she and the group opened their eyes they saw an dark brown, gold, and red armored man, but they all recognized the voice and keyblade from the vision after the defeat of Larxene.

"What!" Eraqus said.

"Master, have you gone mad?" He asked.

"Terra! I command you- step aside!" Eraqus demanded.

The armor then disappeared, revealing the man from the island. "No!"

"Well that was blunt." Sai said, earning him a kick in the nuts from Sakura.

"Quiet!" Sakura orders as she watched Sai holding his groan in pain.

"You will not heed your Master!" Eraqus asked angrily.

"I won't!" Terra replied.

"Why do all my attempts to reach you fail? I you don't have it in your heart to obey. . . then you will have to share Ventus's fate." Eraqus said as tear flowed down his face.

"Just like The Third Hokage and Orochimaru. Except This man, Terra is trying to protect his friend." Kakashi thought.

Terra and Eraqus started to clash as Ventus and the group watched.

"Enough Terra! He's right. . ." Ventus pled.

"Quiet!" Terra ordered.

"Terra. . ." Ventus said as he looked at him.

Eraqus then jumped back and sent out a blast of light as it hit, knocking Ventus to the floor, but only Terra jumping away from him.

Terra the picked up Ventus with his free arm as he looked at Eraqus, who was having a massive aura of light around him. Terra then took a deep breath as a black aura surrounded him.

"No. . ." Xion muttered.

"That's!" Hinata exclaimed.

"You may be my Master." Terra started saying.

"Now this is gonna look badass!" Naruto muttered as Kiba, Akamaru and Choji agreed with him.

"But I will not. . . let you hurt my friend!" Terra finished saying as the darkness around him expanded.

"Has the darkness taken you Terra!" Eraqus angrily asked.

Terra then sent his keyblade backwards creating a portal appeared behind him as he then threw Ventus in.

As Ventus started to get up, the portal started to close with him in it. "Wait Terra!" He called out as the portal completely closed.

The scene then changed again, this time back to Destiny Island, but this time not at sunset.

Naruto then started to chuckle. "Here again huh?"

"Yup." Xion replied as everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

They then saw the portal open as Ventus stumbled out. "Wait Terra!" He called out as he got to his feet and tried to run back in but the portal closed. Before Ventus was about to do something. . .

"Going somewhere?" A voice said. As he and the group turned, they all saw a familiar figure on the bridge, except he had a mask on.

"Hey! It's that guy! From after Hinata's fight with Roxas!" Naruto exclaimed as he pointed at him.

"Who is he?" Sai muttered, intrigued by this person.

"I'm through with you!" Ventus said as he started walking the other direction.

"Well I'm just getting started with you. You're strong enough now to fulfill your purpose." He started saying as he summoned out a red, dark blue and black keyblade that looked like it had chains all over it and eyeballs. "So what are you waiting for? Join with me right here and now. Become the _χ-_blade."

Ventus didn't look back at him. "No, I won't do it. He told me, the only way the _χ-_blade can be forged is if you and me fight. Well guess what? I'm not fighting."

Kakashi smiled. "Even he know when not to fight."

"You used to be too broken to fight back." The masked boy said as Ventus started to have another headache.

The scene then changed again back to where the group first saw Xehanort. They saw a scared Ventus, surrounded by a group of Neo Shadows.

"Ven!" Xion called out but she knew he could hear her.

"What's this all about?" Kakashi asked.

"Please don't do this, Master." Ventus said as the group then looked at Ventus's 'Master' causing Naruto to clench his fist again in anger. "I'm not strong enough."

"No. It is because you are trying to hold it in. Let the dark impulses waken in the pit of your heart. Release them, here and now! Sharpen your fear into rage." Xehanort order.

"No real power can come from anger and hatred. . ." Kakashi muttered. "Even I know it's alright to be afraid of something."

"You must! If you do not let the storm within you run its course, it will wipe you from the face of the world, make no mistake! Do it. Embrace the darkness. Produce for your Master the _χ_-blade!" Xehanort finished ordering.

"That bastard. . ." Naruto growled. "Using someone for their own personal gain. . .it's disgusting. . ." Everyone nodded in agreement.

The Neo Shadows got closer until they completely overwhelmed him as Ventus became unconscious.

"Ass." Kiba muttered as Akamaru growled at Xehanort coming towards Ventus.

"Really? You would rather die than use the power?" Xehanort asked as he made him lay down on his back. "Feckless neophyte."

"A what?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"I'll tell you later." Kakashi said as they continued watching.

"If I must... I will extract the darkness from within you myself." Xehanort said as he summoned his keyblade.

"That bastard! He has no right to be a Keyblade master!" Naruto yelled as his eyes became silted and red.

"What is he-!" Sakura was about to as she clenched her fist.

"Calm down, you'll only prove him right." Kakashi said as they did what he said.

Xehanort then place the head of his keyblade over Ventus as if he was going to stab him.

"What is he-?" Xion asked this time.

Xehanort then shot a beam of darkness at Ventus's chest as an orb of light came out of him.

"What did he just-?" Shino asked.

The orb rose to the air as it then became surrounded by an orb of darkness. As the orb opened, it revealed the same boy from the island.

"So. . . this guy is-?" Ino asked.

"Ventus's dark half." Choji answered.

As he came to the ground, the group noticed that Ventus's eyes became hazed.

"God. . ." Kakashi muttered in disgust as he looked back at the masked boy.

"Empty creature from Ventus riven... to you, the name Vanitas shall be given." Xehanort announced.

"So that's his name. . . Vanitas. . ." Sai said.

"Yes, Master." Vanitas said without hesitation.

The scene then went back to Destiny Island as Ventus recovered from his headache.

"I'm hating this Xehanort guy so much right now." Naruto muttered.

"Fine. Then I'll give you a reason to fight." Vanitas as Ventus and the group looked at him.

"What?" Ventus and Naruto said in semi-unison.

"That was weird." Kiba said and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Come and find me. . ." Vanitas started saying. "at the one and only place to spawn the _χ_-blade- the Keyblade Graveyard."

Everyone the group except Shino, Kakashi and Sai paled at the thought.

"A graveyard. . ." Naruto started.

"For Keyblades. . .?" Hinata finished.

"There, you're gonna see me choke the life out of Terra and Aqua. Then we'll see how long you play the pacifist." Vanitas finished saying as he disappeared into the darkness.

"Wait!" Ventus called out as he tried to catch him but disappeared. He then pulled out a green and silver star shaped charm. "Terra, Aqua. . . I swear I'll put an end to this."

The blinding light appeared again, causing everyone to cover their eyes again.

Soon the light dimmed and they were all back in the garden and Shikamaru was holding Luxord's deck of card.

"Back here again. . ." Naruto pointed out.

"Yeah. . ." Xion said quietly.


	41. Chapter 41

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 41: Kunoichi Vs. the Melodious Nocturne 

Everyone was silent after that last vision of the past shown, but now the group knew who the real enemy was, the Dark Keyblade Master Xehanort. Everyone was completely pissed at what Xehanort did to an innocent boy for his own selfish gain. At least that's how everyone was until. . .

"So now what do we do?" Naruto asked, drawing everyone's attention. "I mean, we may all be piss at that old fart Xehanort but shouldn't we continue to see more of what happened?"

"Naruto's right." Kakashi said. "That vision we saw was depressing, but we can't let it get to us." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

Shikamaru noticed that he had Luxord's card. "I'll hold on to these." He muttered.

"So whose next?" Ino asked.

Xion started trying to remember the order as she looked at the portals. "Let's see. thirteen was Roxas, twelve was Larxene, eleven was Marluxia and ten was Luxord. So next would be. . ." Xion then realized who was next as she then went to a wall and started banging her head, muttering 'Crap' multiple times.

"Uh. . . Xion, why are hurting yourself like that?" Kiba asked as everyone wondered the same thing.

Kakashi then went over to her and stopped her from her head-banging. "Your gonna get a concussion if you keep doing that. . . "

Xion then started to rub her head. "Sorry about that."

"What was that all about Xion? Did you remember who was next?" Hinata asked as she did a Cure spell on her.

Xion then sweat-dropped. "Unfortunately yes Organization Member IX," She then dropped her head. "not to mention the wimpiest and most annoying member Demyx. I still wonder how he got into the Organization." She muttered under her breath.

"Was he that annoying for Sora? Even more annoying then Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled out but was ignored.

"Yes. . . Yes he was."

"Troublesome, a person more annoying then Naruto!" Shikamaru said, causing everyone to chuckle a little.

"I'm still here you know!" Naruto yelled out again, but was ignored.

"Alright, now that we got that through our systems could you say some information about this guy that would be help?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, he has the power of water on his side but doesn't really like to fight directly. Although he does have this strange power where he makes himself invincible so that attacks can't hurt."

"Seriously?" Kiba asked as Akamaru stared to whimper a bit.

"Yeah, but it's was easy for Sora to make him not invincible by destroying the water clones that he makes. I think he might be a bit overconfident with his abilities." Xion then got a thought in her head. "Maybe if Sakura goes, she'll beat the crap out of him."

"So who do you think should fight this guy?" Choji asked.

"Well, one of the best ways to beat his water clones is by using magic, so I would have to say that Hinata should go." Xion said.

"Alright. That sounds reasonable." Hinata said as she stepped forward.

Xion then started to think. "Hmm, besides Hinata and Sakura, who should go? Maybe-" Xion noticed that Tenten was raising her hand. "Yes?"

Tenten then started to scratch the back of her head. "Actually I was wondering if I go? No, I'm not using this as a reason to see what the guys weapon is, I'm asking to go because I've fought against guys that use water clones and my scroll filled with explosive tags always works well in them."

"Hmm, since explosive tags are fire I think it could work." Xion thought as she smiled at Tenten. "Sure, I think you'll be helpful with Hinata."

Tenten smiled at her allowing her to fight. "Thanks."

"YOSH! TENTEN WILL NOW BE GOING INTO ANOTHER FIGHT!" Lee exclaimed as everyone else sweat-dropped.

Xion chuckled a bit at Lee's antics. "Anyway, I believe that Sakura will be the third person because even though she can't do fire magic or has some explosive tags, after she gets a hit on the clone, they'll turn into a form where someone can grab it, swing it like a lasso and then attract other to it after throwing it. Sora was able to do that and it was helpful in the battle."

Sakura then punched her fist and started cracking her knuckles. "Alright! I'm ready. I haven't fought since that bitch Larxene."

"Oh Sakura. This guy's is really going to piss you off." Xion thought.

"Take him down girls." Naruto cheered.

"Good luck you guys, I'm taking a break. After the homo, I think good for now." Ino said

"Alright Ino." Sakura said as she, Hinata and Tenten headed for the portal that Xion was in front of.

"So Xion, what the weapon he uses? And I'm asking out of curiosity." Tenten asked.

Xion then began to chuckle. "Let's just say that it's completely unexpecting."

Everyone was confused for a second as they headed in.

"See you guys soon." Tenten said as she jumped in.

"Naruto, don't get ideas from this guys unless they're good ones." Sakura said as she went in, causing Naruto to sweat-drop.

Hinata quickly went up to Naruto and kissed him on the lips. "Don't get too lonely without me." She then ran back and winked at him as she went in. The portal then turned yellow.

Naruto blushed as Kiba jokingly elbowed.

"Gotta hand it to you Naruto, you really helped out Hinata." Kiba said.

Naruto then smiled. "What can I say? I really love her."

"So. . ." Kakashi said as he eye-smiled with a somewhat cocky smile.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Have you done it yet?" Kakashi said as he brought up his Icha-Icha book.

Naruto then had a full face blush as the others except Xion, Sai, and Shino chuckled at his response. "N-no you pervert!"

Hinata, Sakura, and Tenten appeared at a recognizable area, in front of Radiant Garden, their was a canyon in front of them and a broken archway that was also in back of him. The floor had a pattern of a blue four-leaf clover with green line it as well.

"Huh, a copy of Radiant Garden." Hinata said.

"Who would've thought we be sent here?" Tenten asked.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me."

Data streams shot out of the void forming their next opponent: a blond, geeky-looking kid with a crew-cut. The girls stared him down like any other dangerous opponent. Sakura's piercing glare made him cringe back a few steps.

The girls waited him to say something insulting in any kind of matter. They were completely off guard when he winked and smiled at them.

"Hey you girls are looking lively." Demyx cheerfully said.

"Uh. . ." Tenten said, confused at this guy. "What's up with this kook?" She whispered.

Demyx started giving funny looks at the girls as if he was examining them.

"What's he up to?" Sakura whispered.

"Be prepared for anything." Hinata whispered back as she summoned her keyblade.

"Girls, huh?" Demyx gave them an up-and-down. "This might actually be easy for once."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, anger seeping into her voice.

Demyx shrugged. "Oh nothing. Truth is I really only fight on occasions or on accidents. Heck the only girl that really beat me was Larxene, and that was caused by me accidentally flipping her many switches." He then continue on about how he got beaten up. . . a lot.

"I'm starting to almost feel sorry for this guy." Hinata muttered. "Sort of. . ."

"-Not to mention that time with Roxas and Xigbar when they mistake me for the imposter in the Organization before when I was trying to slack off.-"

Back outside. . .

Everyone was sweat-dropping as Demyx continued.

"This is just really pathetic. . ." Kiba muttered as Akamaru whined in agreement.

"I'll say." Ino said.

"I can relate." Shikamaru muttered. "All I ever want to do is nothing really."

"He is having a most unyouthful attitude." Lee said.

"Wow. . . I gotta say. . . He's almost as bad as Kakashi." Naruto said.

"I'm not that bad. . ." Kakashi wilted.

"I'm gonna have to guess he was always like this?" Sai asked but didn't get an answer.

Xion couldn't help but chuckle at what she was expecting to happen.

Back in the arena. . .

Sakura was twitching as Demyx continued his complaining as Hinata and Tenten kept their cool.

"-There was that other time when-"

"OH SHUT UP ALREADY! WE DON'T NEED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW YOU SUCK DAMN IT! CHA!" Sakura yelled

"Besides, what does us being girls have to do with anything?" Tenten asked.

"What?" Demyx scratched his head. "I mean everyone hits so hard! You guys just look easy."

Back outside Naruto and most of the guys except Sai had all the color drain from them as Ino got pissed and turned red.

"LET ME AT HIM! LET ME AT THE BASTARD!" Ino roared as she tried to head to the portal but was stopped by Shikamaru's 'Shadow Possession Jutsu'.

Inside Xion mind, she was laughing up a storm.

Back at the arena. . .

Hinata and Tenten backed away from Sakura as a light coat of chakra started to appear around her.

"You want to get killed mullet-boy!" Tenten yelled.

"Now that's just plain rude!"

Tenten shook her head. "Just give it a rest! We've only known you for five minutes and you already seem like a complete wuss."

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," Demyx said, wagging his finger."You're one to talk!" Sakura shot back. "You just said that it'd be easy to take me down because we're girls." She pointed at Demyx . "So don't start preaching us about appearances."Demyx was silent for a moment. Then he dropped his playful demeanor and growled, "Silence, girls." He raised his arm into the air, water appearing out from underneath his feet. Flowing upward into the palm of his hand, the water formed into his weapon: a sitar. Demyx twirled it around a few times before pointing at them. "Just thought of the perfect piece to play with your defeats."

"Get ready!" Hinata said as they all got into their stances.

"A guitar! WHAT KIND OF WEAPON IS THAT!" Tenten yelled out as she then realized what Xion meant by an 'unexpecting weapon'.

"Dance, water, dance!" As strung a few chords from his sitar, water clones of him started to surround the girls. "Got thirty seconds girls, or else your done."

"Like that's gonna happen!" Sakura said as she ignored the clones and started to rush into him, as he tried to punch him, nothing happened.

"What the?" Sakura back flipped back to the group. "Why didn't it work!"

"Nice try, girlies!" Demyx taunted, still absorbed in plucking the strings. "But as long as my water clones are around, you can't hit me!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Tenten said as she got some explosive tags out.

"No time! Destroy the clones!" Hinata said as she did a Magnet spell to attract the clones to a single point as she then did a thunder spell on them.

Tenten continued using some explosive tags, conserving as many as she could while also slashing some of them with as samurai blades.

Sakura just punched them into drops of water.

They continued to do it until they were all gone.

"Now to. . ." Hinata began. Before she could continue, Demyx started to string another melody."Dance, water, dance!" More clones materialized around him. "Ten in thirty seconds was way too easy. Let's amp it up, shall we?" This time, a hundred water clones surrounded them.

"Oh come on!" Sakura complained.

Back outside. . .

"That is completely cheap!" Naruto ranted as the others agreed with him.

"I wonder how he makes himself invincible like that?" Kakashi and Sai muttered.

Back in the arena. . .

"Gotta save energy for magic." Hinata muttered as she started slashing along with Tenten.

While the clones then turned into its second form that looked like a music note, Sakura got an idea. "Now I know why she chose me!" She then grabbed one of the turned clones and started swinging it around like a lasso. "Try this!" She then threw it away as a group of the clones grouped together and were destroyed. "Your turn now!" As yelled as she charged at Demyx as Hinata and Tenten destroyed the last two clones.

"Uh-oh!" Demyx said as he then hummed again and then dashed into Sakura with a pillar of water following him, launching her into the air.

"Gah!" Sakura screamed as the pressure of the water hit her side.

Demyx laughed. "C'mon! I thought you'd have at least hit me once by now!" Sakura pounded her fist on the ground in frustration, creating a medium sized crater as she stared daggers at her opponent.

"This guy. . ." Sakura tried to regain her focus and tried to prop herself up. ". . .is SO dead!"

Back outside. . .

"He's is so dead. . ." Naruto and Kakashi said in semi-unison.

Back in the arena. . .

Demyx twirled the sitar in a flamboyant manner and started to play furiously. "Water!" Giant water bubbles formed up above and started raining down from the sky. Hinata and Tenten leapt up to their feet and started to run, but a couple of water orbs slammed them back into the ground, soaking her even further.

"Great! I'm soaked!" Tenten muttered as Sakura and Hinata tried to dry off.

Sakura continued dodging as she then tried to slam into him with a fist. But Demyx casually blocked it with his sitar. "Come on, stick to the beat!" He said as water pillars began to appear in front and behind Sakura.

"Crap!" Sakura was able to quickly dodge it as Demyx started to strangely move around with his sitar.

"Got you now!" He said as pillars launched the three into the air.

The three soon regrouped as they continued dodging his attacks. All three of them were panting from exhaustion, as the same was for Demyx.

"I never thought he would be this tough!" Tenten said.

"I know! No wonder Xion called him annoying. This is getting ridiculous! And if he says. . ." Sakura started threatening.

"Dance, water, dance!" Demyx strummed his sitar again. A thousand water clones materialized, lining the area's edge. "Can't attack me now!" he then let out a yell of frustration and annoyance. "Okay! That's it!" She stomped straight up to Demyx who was humming to himself. "Uh Sakura. . . What are you doing?" Hinata asked. Sakura glared at Demyx, fuming with anger. He barely glanced up at her."Running out of time, girls! And your attacks won't hit me while my clones are here!"Sakura stood there silent for a moment. "My attacks can't hit you, huh?" she said quietly. Then without warning, Sakura's hands shot out at Demyx's sitar and ripped it out of his grasp."Hey! What are you. . .?" Sakura held his weapon straight in front of her and with a quick jerk over her knee, she snapped his sitar in two.

In both the arena and in the garden, everyone's mouths dropped to the floor as the water clones instantly evaporated into mist.

Naruto and Kiba then started to burst out into sheer laughter, Ino cheered for what her friend did, Kakashi palmed his face as if he was expecting something like that to happen, Shino and Sai remained emotionless as Xion proceeded to bang her head on the wall muttered 'Why didn't Sora think of that?'

Back in the arena. . .

Demyx stood there dumbfounded. "Wait. . .but. . .you can't. . ." he stammered.

"Well I did punk!" Sakura looked back at Hinata and Tenten. "Ready to finish this?"

"Yup!" Tenten said as Hinata nodded.

The three then went into a triangle formation around Demyx, who was still in shock.

"I'll start!" Sakura said as she rushed into and sent a punch at him that sent him flying into the air.

"I'm up!" Hinata said as she quickly summoned her glider as flew into him and started to hit him with a few Gentle Fist attacks, slamming the last hit so he started dive-bombing straight to the ground.

"And finally!" Tenten said as she jumped into the air and took out a large scroll. "WEAPON CONTROL! GIANT IRON BALL!" As she said it, a giant iron spike ball came out of the scroll. "Move!" She called out to the girls as she then sent the ball into Demyx's body as it slammed into the ground. It the disappeared as Demyx's body disappeared into data.

Back outside. . .

Everyone was silent at what happen until. . .

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Xion cheered as she then quickly covered her mouth and started to blush, causing everyone to giggle.

Kakashi then eye-smiled. "Well it sounds like you enjoyed watching the fight."

"Can you blame her though? After seeing that guy spam water clones like that, I would've been ready to beat the living crap out of that guy!" Naruto said as Kiba, Akamaru and Ino nodded in agreement.

"10. . .9. . .8. . ." Sai counted.

"What's up Sai?" Kakashi asked.

"3. . . 2. . .1. . ." Sai finished as the blinding light appeared in both the garden and the arena.

When the light cleared again, they at a familiar place from the last vision shown.

"Huh? Hey we're back at Ven's home!" Naruto exclaimed as they saw Ventus, Terra and Eraqus.

"You may be my Master. "But I will not. . . let you hurt my friend!" Terra said as the darkness around him expanded."Has the darkness taken you Terra!" Eraqus angrily asked.

"Wait, didn't we already see this?" Sakura asked as Terra opened the portal and sent Ventus into it.

"Wait Terra!" He called out as the portal closed, leaving Terra and the group that's watching.

"I guess this time we're watching Terra's side." Shino deducted.

"It seems so." Sai said.

Terra began by glowing as a burst of darkness came out as he rushed into Eraqus.. He started lashing him wildly, ending the combo with a giant red hand coming out.

"What the!" Naruto said he saw the hand.

"Such strength. . ." Kakashi muttered.

Terra soon disappeared in to a portal of darkness in the ground and then reappeared under Eraqus, giving him an upward thrust attack with another red hand.

Hinata looked at Xion as they nodded to each other. "A command style?"

"Seems like it." Xion replied.

"Hmm. . . You girls know something about what he did?" Kakashi asked as Terra stared using Chaos Blade.

The two then looked at each Kakashi. "We'll tell you later." Xion replied.

The battle between Terra and Eraqus raged on. Light versus Darkness, master versus student in a clash of blades. The group was speechless at the intense battle that went on. Terra used darkness and some earth based attacks while Eraqus used light and a fire attack where three pillars of flames chased after Terra. It seemed like it would never end until. . .

"Your done!" Terra called out as he slammed his keyblade on the ground after jumping into the air and gathered energy.

"Hit the deck!" Naruto yelled out they saw meteors coming into orbit.

The meteors collided with Eraqus as it blinded the group for a second from the overwhelming power.

"Jeez overkill much?" Kiba muttered.

"An attack that can summon meteors. Incredible." Kakashi muttered.

"To think this is all a misunderstanding. . ." Sakura muttered.

When the smoke cleared, Eraqus was panting heavily while Terra had a worried and upset look on his face as he sent his keyblade away and walked over to him.

"Is he alright?" Naruto asked.

"What have I done. . . Master. . . I just. . . wanted to keep Ven safe." Terra explained.

"Poor guy. . ." Sakura muttered. "All he wanted was to protect his friend."

"No, you were right." Eraqus said. "I failed you Terra."

"Like I said before," Kakashi muttered. "The Third Hokage and Orochimaru. . ."

"Perhaps I've no one to blame but myself for the darkness inside you."

"I'm starting to think that their's some outside force at work. . ." Shino muttered.

Everyone looked at Shino a second for an obvious deduction. "Xehanort." They all bluntly said as they turned back to vision.

"And now, I've done worse. . . raised my Keyblade against you and Ventus. My own heart is darkness!"

"No. . . you were only doing what you thought was right. . .' Kakashi said.

The group then saw that Eraqus was blasted in the back with darkness.

"What the-!" Naruto yelled out as the group saw Eraqus fall to the ground, dropping his keyblade. Terra went to catch him in his arms but fades out of existence. The group became wide-eyed and speechless at what just happened.

Terra then started to cry in remorse for what he did. "Master Eraqus!" The group noticed tears coming out of his eyes as the fell to the ground below.

Everyone then head footsteps as the group then saw a familiar old buzzard.

Naruto and Sakura clenched their fists, Hinata and Xion gripped their keyblades, Kakashi and Shikamaru glared, Shino and Sai looked at him blankly, Kiba and Akamaru snarled at him, Ino and Tenten bit their lips and Choji sped up on eating his chips as if he was watching a movie.

"What a sight. Why do you trouble yourself with remorse, Master Terra?" Xehanort asked.

"That bastard. . ." Naruto muttered.

"Easy Naruto. . ." Kakashi said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The man was bent on doing harm to your friend, his own pupil!"

"Yeah to stop your plans you sicko!" Kiba muttered

Terra gasped as he looked up at him. "Master Xehanort! Why?"

"You know, at times I find your progress quite striking. But you still fall short. Let all that anger out, my boy. Give your heart over to darkness!"

"What do you mean?" Terra asked as he resummon his keyblade, ready for battle.

"What could he achieve with Terra going to darkness." Xion muttered.

"Still so blind... Then I will make you see. Come to the place where all Keyblade wielders leave their mark on fate—"

"The Keyblade Graveyard!" Xehanort and Xion said in semi-unison as Xehanort summoned his keyblade.

"There you will watch your dear Ventus and Aqua meet their ends, and the last light within you will die!" Xehanort said as he shot a beam of darkness into the sky, as it then expanded.

The group watched as a dark orb appeared in the sky, causing intense winds to rage,

"No. . ." Xion muttered as she recognized the same kind of orb appearing on Destiny Island before it destroyed it.

"You won't need a home anymore where you're going!" Xehanort said.

"What!" Terra said as he looked at what was happening. He then looked to see that Xehanort was leaving through a dark corridor. 'Xehanort!" Terra tried to chase him put the corridor closed as he was about to enter.

The group then began to watch in horror as Terra, Aqua and Ventus's home was destroyed. The orb lifted part of the building in front of them as it then sucked it in. The land itself then started to get sucked in as well.

"My god. . ." Kakashi muttered.

"This is. . . like exactly what happened to Destiny Island. . . which cause Sora to go on his first journey." Xion said as she fell to her knees.

"How could anyone do this. . .?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know Sakura. . . I don't know. . ." Hinata muttered.

"That no good. . . piece of shit. . ." Naruto angrily muttered as his eyes started to become slit and red.

As Terra got up he took out his orange charm. "Ven, Aqua. . . I won't let him hurt you."

As soon as Terra said what said, a blinding light appeared again and the group returned to the garden and Sakura was holding Demyx's sitar.


	42. Chapter 42

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 42: Friend Vs. Friend

After the last vision shown of Terra and Xehanort, the group decided to instantly go on to the next members, hoping to see what happened next. Xion was taking a quick nap before she decided to fight Axel.

(Her dream)

Xion was on a pair of stairs, looking around to see a familiar place. "How am I? The World That Never Was!" She thought. "This couldn't be the sleeping realm could it?"

She then heard panting running towards toward, when she turned saw a familiar boy in his black attire as she then became wide-eyed. "S-Sora? W-Why!"

"Naminé, is that you?" Sora asked.

"No. . .I can't face him. . ." Xion thought as she turned to run away, ignoring the fact that he called her Naminé.

"Wait! Naminé!" Sora said as he ran up and grabbed her hand, causing Xion to blush. "I got a message for you. I meant to tell you once this was all over."

"A message for Naminé?" Xion thought as she turned to him as he then gave her a confused look.

"Huh? Who are. . . you?" Sora asked.

"No. . . Not yet. . ." Xion thought as she turned away for a second before noticing a tear run down Sora's face. She then started to put up her hood.

As Sora felt the tear, he became confused again. "Wh-why am I. . ."

Xion broke free from his grip as she ran up the stair. "This isn't the time. . ."

"Hey wait!" Sora called out.

(Real world)

Xion then woke up in a cold sweat. "What was that all about?" She muttered as she remembered who she was fight next and got a bit depressed. "One step at a time." She thought.

"Oh boy." Hinata said.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"It's time, Organization member VIII. . ."

The 'Flurry of Dancing Flames' one of my best friends. . . Axel." Xion finished in a depress tone.

"Your other friend besides Roxas." Sakura said.

Kakashi then turned towards her. "Xion. . . You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Xion then started to chuckle. "It's alright, I sort of owe him for beating me the last time we fought."

"When was the last time you fought in an actual battle?" Hinata asked curiously.

"It was before Sora woke up and I decided to give his memories his memories of Kairi back to him. Axel was ordered by the Organization to bring me back. I didn't know it at the time but Roxas already left as well."

"Man, you had a lot of drama in your life huh?" Kiba said as he was then bopped on the head by Ino. "The hell-!"

"That's not exactly something you make a comment about." Ino angrily said.

"Dang crazy blonde. . ." Kiba muttered as Akamaru whined.

Xion then chuckled again. "Its alright Ino, I don't mind." She then eyed the portal. "Axel replica. . . I'm taking you down!"

"Judging by his title, I'm guessing Axel uses fire?" Sai asked.

"Yup, he was able to turn the floor to magma that slowly drained a person's energy." Xion explained.

"Interesting," Kakashi said. "I guess your wearing shoes that'll protect you from getting burned?"

"Yup, I think I'll be able to do what Roxas did and run on the flame barrier."

"Huh?" Naruto said, confused.

"You'll see in the fight." Xion said as she headed for the portal.

"Don't lose Xion." Hinata cheered as she gave her a thumbs-up. Everyone else followed her example (except Sai, Shikamaru, Shino and Kakashi) and gave a thumbs-up.

"Take the flame butt down." Naruto said with his goofy grin.

"As long as you don't over exert yourself." Sakura said, completing Naruto's sentence.

"Stay focus." Shino said.

Akamaru happily barked. "What Akamaru said, show him your in control." Kiba said.

"I got nothing to say, mainly cause it's to troublesome." Shikamaru said, but was still smirking.

Ino winked at Xion. "Show him what us girls can do!"

Choji sweat-dropped at Ino.

"YOSH XION! HAVE A MOST YOUTHFUL MATCH!" Lee loudly cheered causing everyone to sweat-drop.

"Yeah what Ino said." Tenten said. "After what Demyx said. . . I think you can understand."

Xion smiled back at them. "Thanks everyone. I'm glad that you all my friends." She then thought back to the times at Twilight Town's clock tower as she ate ice cream with Roxas and Axel as she headed into the portal.

The group then huddled around the computer to watch the fight.

When Xion opened her eyes, she saw that she was floating around, everything around was white. "What the-?"

"NAME?" A computerized voice said.

The freaked out Xion a bit as she summoned her Keyblade. "Who's there?"

"NAME?" The computerized voice asked again.

"Xion."

After a few minutes. "NAME REGESTERED. . .ACCESSING BATTLLE NOW." The computerized voice said it warped Xion.

Xion was suddenly encased in a circle of fire. "Here I go!" She said as she summoned out her keyblade.

The data gathered as it shaped itself into the person Xion knew. He had red spiky hair, green eyes, wore the same black coat as any other Organization XIII member and had these tear marks on his face.

Before they start to fight, Xion suddenly has one of Roxas's flashback as her eyes went wide.

(Flashback start)

Roxas just defeated a bunch of Nobodies, he was staring down Axel.

"Simply amazing Roxas." Axel said.

"Axel." Roxas replied, curacy of him remembering him.

"You really do remember me this time." Axel said as he turned to him. "I'm SO FLATTERED!" Suddenly the two were encased in a circle of fire. "But your too late!"

Suddenly the Roxas in the flashback and Xion, simultaneously took out two keyblades, Roxas's being the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades while Xion's were her regular light blue Keyblade and a Keyblade that was more sword like, possessing a curved, notched blade, it looked like a mixture between Roxas's Keyblades as it had black and white on it. The teeth were silver and black thorns. The keychain was the charm the Hinata won when she had fought Data Roxas. The handle looked like Roxas's old checkered wristbands and had the Nobody symbol on it.

"Two!" Flashback Axel exclaimed.

(Flashback end)

Xion didn't even realize it, but she was dual-wielding two Keyblades as she went into the same dual-wielding stance that Roxas went into.

Back outside. . .

"Whoa!" Sakura and Ino exclaimed.

"How did she just do that!" Hinata asked in surprise.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Naruto said as Kiba, Choji and Akamaru agreed.

"Shiny. . ." Tenten said with a bit of drool coming out her mouth at the sight of Axel and Xion's new weapon.

"YOSH! THIS WILL BE EVEN MORE OF A YOUTHFUL MATCH!" Lee exclaimed.

Sai and Shino were silent as they watched.

"Wait, I don't think she even realizes she's doing it." Kakashi said as he got a closer look.

Back in the battlefield. . .

"Come here, I'll make it all stop." Data Axel said.

"Bring it." Xion said as she gripped the two Keyblades, still thinking that she's having a flashback.

"Burn baby!" Data Axel called out he turned the floor to magma.

Then Xion realized that she wasn't having a flashback anymore when a flame almost burned her. "YEOW! HOT HOT HOT!" She screamed as she tried to cool herself when she realized she had a second keyblade in her hand, "Wait a minute!" She then looked at both of her Keyblades. "How am I dual-wielding!" She then noticed the charm that Hinata won from her match with Data Roxas was hanging on her second keyblade. "Oh. . . so that's it. . ." She smiled as she then turned to Axel.

Back outside, everyone couldn't help but chuckle at the antics Xion just had their.

"Well now she realizes." Kakashi said with a sweat drop running down him.

Back in the arena. . .

Xion was avoiding Data Axel's attacks as they were coming at her. "Ok Xion, calm down. Your suddenly wielding two Keyblades and you only have the memories of when Roxas dual-wield them. It's no problem." She thought to herself.

Data Axel then went into the fire wall as he started popping out and attack Xion.

"Wait for it. . ." Xion muttered as she continued dodging. When Axel came out of the fire again. "Now!" She threw her keyblade at him and rushed into him. "Overtaker." The two then started to run along the fire, clashing weapons, until Axel jumped off. "Now! Clear Light!" She thought as she slammed Data Axel to the floor, causing pillars of light to come out and clearing out the magma floor, stunning Data Axel.

Back outside. . .

"So that's what she meant." Naruto muttered.

Back in the arena. . .

Xion started bashing Axel with both Keyblades. She then launched him into the air and continued the bashing until Axel jumped into the flames again. "Where did he go!" Xion muttered as she attempted to track Axel's movements behind the flame only had a split-second to react when Data Axel burst out from her right side. Xion back flipped out of the way as the Data copy of the Flurry of Dancing Flames skated by her, leaving a streak of fire pillars in his wake. Before she could make a move, Data Axel jumped back into the wall.

"Now where!"

Data Axel suddenly appeared behind her. "Get back!" Data Axel threw his chakrams like giant, flat yo-yos, hitting her in the back. He performed tricks that even an expert would have a hard time performing. "Around the World" while flipping sideways; behind the back and underneath his legs; he even was able to pull off a double "Warp Drive" following with a "Time Warp." Xion could only weakly parry or deflect the attacks with her Keyblade.

Xion started to sweat as it she felt herself get hotter. "Jeez, how did Roxas and Sora fight Axel like this! It's so frickin hot!" She thought as she did a cure spell on herself.

"Won't forget this!" Rings of flame swirled around Data Axel's body as he channeled his energy into his weapons. Instinct was telling her to avoid this attack at all costs, forcing Xion to begin running out of range. Then like an expert juggler, he tossed his chakrams with pinpoint precision straight at her retreating form. "Got it memorized!" He then sent out some massive pillars of fire at her.

"Gotta end this now!" Xion thought as her Keyblades started to gain a thick layer of ice around them. "Now Twin Blizzard Raid!" She then threw both Keyblades at Axel.

"Xion!" Data Axel monotony said as he threw his weapons at her.

The two then charged at each other until. . .

"Gotcha!" Xion muttered as she resummon her keyblades that were still coated in ice to her hands and delivered an 'X' shaped slash right into his chest.

Data Axel fell to his knees and soon enough to the ground as he then faded away in the data. Xion then remembered the aftermath of Roxas and Axel's final battle.

(Flashback start)

The flames died down, as smoke rose from the former fires.

Roxas was staring down a downed Axel after he had defeated him. "Axel. . ."

Axel looked up at Roxas. "Let's meet again in the next life."

"Yeah. I'll be waiting." Roxas said with a nod of his head.

Black smoke then started to cover Axel. "Silly. Just because you have a next life. . ." He then faded away.

(Flashback end)

"I'll be wait. . . Axel." Xion muttered as she resummon her keyblades and a single tear ran down her eye.

Back outside. . .

Naruto whistled. "Not bad."

"I'll say." Kakashi said.

Hinata smiled. "Great job, Xion."

"WOOHOO! That was awesome!" Kiba cheered as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Now that's the true power of woman!" Ino said as Sakura and Tenten nodded in agreement.

"THAT WAS SUCH A YOUTHFUL BATTLE!" Lee cheered with tears running down his eyes.

Shikamaru and Shino couldn't help but smirked as Choji smiled.

Shino blankly looked on.

Soon enough, the blinding light appeared and everyone was whisked into another vision. The group arrived at a another unfamiliar pass, but it somehow felt. . .familiar in a way. The area look like a town square, it had flowers everywhere, was also running water coming out of some wall.

"So anyone know where we are now?" Naruto asked.

"No clue here." Xion said.

"Oh by the way, can you still summon both of the keyblades you had?" Naruto asked.

"Let me try." Xion then brought out both of her hands and concentrated. As she then took a deep breath, both keyblades appeared. "Wow, I did it!"

Hinata smiled. "I'm happy for you Xion."

Xion smiled back. "Thanks Hinata."

The group then notice Ventus leaning against a wall near a pair of stairs, looking depressed, as he was holding what looked like a wooden keyblade.

"So it's a flashback for Ven huh?" Sakura said.

"His full name is Ventus, another word for wind." Kakashi explained. "Like that man Terra's name means earth and the woman Aqua means water."

"That's pretty obvious Kakashi-Sensei." Sakura muttered causing the others (except Sai) to laugh.

"Man, Ventus looks depressed." Choji said.

"I can understand though, I mean him being like Naruto a bit except for a weapon and not a giant chakra beast." Ino said as the group watched him twirl the wooden keyblade.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Even guys like him still play with wooden sword."

"More like a wooden keyblade." Kiba chuckled with Akamaru.

Soon Ventus dropped the wooden keyblade as if fell near a kid's foot. The kid then picked it up. The kid was a red-haired boy with green eye. He was wearing a sleeveless orange jacket with a white, sleeveless shirt underneath, and tan, baggy pants with red and white sneakers and black socks. The pockets of his jacket are a much darker shade of orange than the rest of it. He also wears a yellow and brown keffiyeh around his neck. The pattern of this keffiyeh changes abruptly near his neck, from stripes to a very organized checkerboard pattern. He started to swing the wooden keyblade around.

"Wait, does that kid look familiar somehow?" Naruto asked as he squinted his eyes.

"Now that you mention it, he does look familiar." Sakura said as she then turned to Xion, who was wide-eyed. "Hey are you alright?"

Xion shock her head, bring her out of the daze. "Um yeah, I'm alright." She then lightly chuckled. "If he's who I think he is. . ."

"This yours?" He asked.

The group then noticed another boy with him. He had straight up blue hair and green eyes. He wore a short-sleeved, navy blue jacket with a light blue stripe going along his shoulders to the ends of his sleeves. The jacket's collar is rather high and is sky blue, as are the ends of the sleeves and the bottom hem of the jacket. There is a yellow crescent moon symbol prominently displayed on the left breast of the jacket. He appears to wear a black undershirt, as well as white pants and black shoes with what appears to be a grayish trim on the bottom.

"Lea, we don't have time for this." The blue haired boy said.

"Lighten up Isa. It'll only take a second." The red haired boy named Lea said as he walked up to Ventus.

Xion's jaw then dropped. "Yup, I was right. It's them." She thought as she picked up her jaw.

"Your alright Xion?" Hinata asked.

"Alright, what do you know?" Kakashi asked.

"Well I think I know whose somebody's they are." Xion said with a weak chuckle.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked.

"Just watch." Xion said as they all did what she said.

"You still play with toy sword? That's cute." He said as he was about to hand it to Ventus.

Ventus grunted at the somewhat insult.

Naruto and Kiba could help but chuckle.

Lea then threw the sword away. "Now this right here," He said as he took out two frisbees. "Tada! Whaddaya think?" He asked he went into a familiar stance.

"That stance. . ." Kakashi muttered as he turned to Xion, who just nodded her head. "I see. . ."

"What Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"You'll see." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Not a whole lot." Ventus said depressingly.

"You're just jealous. I'm Lea. Got it memorized? What's your name?" Lea said as he poked his head.

Everyone else's (except Sai, Shikamaru and Shino's) jaw dropped at what he just said.

"He's. . ." Hinata started.

"Axel's somebody." Naruto finished.

"I should've figured with the resemblance." Kiba muttered.

"He looks pretty cute actually." Ino said with a wicked smile.

"INO!" Sakura yelled as she lightly bopped her on the head.

He then said his name to Lea. "Ventus."

"Okay, Ventus. Let's fight!" Lea proposed.

"Huh?" Naruto wondered.

"Fight? Why would I wanna do that?" Ventus asked.

"You scared of losing? C'mon." Lea taunted as he leapt back a bit and got into a similar stance as Axel. "Hope our ready."

For a moment, the group heard a 'heh' from Ventus, soon enough he looked at Lea determined to fight as he picked up the wooden keyblade.

"Yeah, now we're talking!" Lea said.

"Your gonna be sorry." Ventus said, determined to win.

The group smiled at Ventus's determination.

"Looks like he's in a better mood now." Xion said.

"Seems so." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"YOSH! A FRIENDLY BATTLE BETWEEN FRIEND THAT JUST MET! WHAT COULD BE BETTER!" Lee cheered with tears running down his eyes.

"Oh jeez Lee." Tenten muttered as she rubbed her head.

As the two whacked each other with their play weapons, some of the group couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"This is almost better then back at the academy sparring matches." Naruto said as Kiba, Akamaru and Choji agreed.

Eventually the plat fight ended with Ventus winning as Lea fell on his butt, panting for breath.

"You. . . had enough? 'Cause I'm willing. . . call it a draw if you are." Lea said.

The group and Ventus couldn't help but chuckle again.

"Huh? Heh, right." Ventus said with a smile.

Isa then started to walk up to them. "From where I stood, the only thing you drew was a big L on your forehead for "Loser". . ."Lame", "Laughable". . ."

"Wha— Isn't this the part where ya. . . cheer me up or somethin'? "You're just havin' a bad day" or. . . "That's what you get for pullin' your punches!" Some friend." Lea complained.

"Oh, you mean I was supposed to lie." Isa respond.

"Ya see what I gotta put up with? Sure hope you don't have friends like him." Lea said as he started lay down on the ground.

The three then started to laugh for a while as Lea then got back up.

"Lea, we have to go." Isa said.

"Kay." Lea said as they started to leave.

"Already?" Ventus asked.

"I'll see ya when I see ya. After all, we're friends now." Lea said, causing the group to smile "Get it memorized."

"Ok, Lea." Ventus said.

The group smiled as the blinding light appeared again and they were all back at the Garden.

"Well that was an interesting vision." Kakashi said.

"So Lea was the original name for Axel." Xion said as she realized she was holding his chakrams. "I wonder why we are winning their weapons after beating them?" She thought as she decided to take a nap after giving the chakrams to Tenten.


	43. Chapter 43

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 43: Fighting the Luna Diviner

"OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!" Kiba yelled as he an Akamaru were avoid another attack from Saïx.

"GET BACK HERE YOU SONNA OF BITCH!" Saïx yelled in his berserker mode.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT OF THAT!" Lee yelled out to him as he tried to get closer.

"I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR OUR SIDE!" Kiba yelled back.

"Kiba!" Lee called out as he tried to defend him.

"MOVE ASIDE!" Saïx yelled as he threw his claymore at him.

"This man is indeed strong. . ." Sai muttered as look on at Saïx with a little fear in his eyes as he attacked Kiba, Akamaru and Lee.

(1 hour earlier)

The group was eager to see who would go next. Xion decided that she would take a break after her fight with the data Axel, although she was still surprised that she's now able to summon two keyblades. Naruto was stretching with Lee, Hinata was having a chat with Tenten, Kiba was petting Akamaru, Shino was standing in the shadows, Shikamaru was taking a nap, Choji was still eating his chips, Sakura and Ino were also chatting, Sai was drawing, and Kakashi was reading his usual porn for the thirtieth time.

"Well it's time." Xion said as she started to remember who was next. "Alright, Roxas, Larxene, Marluxia, Luxord, Demyx, Axel and now. . ." She then became wide-eyed at remembering who was next in the line. "Ah crap. . ." Xion then went into a fettle position and started rocking back and forth.

Hinata noticed what Xion was doing. "Oh boy." She then went over to her. "You alright?"

"Why did it have to be him next?" Xion muttered.

Naruto then came over to her. "Alright, you only get like this sometimes if it was a really tough opponent Sora fought, so who is it?"

"The guy that switches persona in an instant and apparently the nobody of Axel eh- Lea's friend. The Lunar Diviner, Saïx."

Sai overheard what the name of the next opponent was. "Saïx. . . The same name that Chromoruxia gave my nobody." Sai then started to walk over to Xion as Hinata and Naruto picked her from her fettle position.

"Sai?" Naruto asked him as he came over.

"What up?" Hinata asked.

Xion got back on her two feet as she looked at Sai. "Is there something you need?"

Sai stared deeply at her. "Yes there is." He hesitated before continuing. "You see, back on the mission when me, Naruto, Sakura and Hinata encountered Chromoruxia with Kabuto and his nobody Xotbaku, Chromoruxia took my nobody out and gave him the same name as the original organization Saïx."

"I see. And that brings us to you wanting. . ." Xion said.

"I would like to fight this Saïx." Sai deducted.

This surprised Xion and Naruto.

"You sure Sai?" Naruto asked.

"He's really tough, and I mean REALLY tough." Xion said.

"I would figure that but still would like to fight him." Sai said with the fake smile plastered on his face.

Kakashi noticed what he said from a distance. "Sai. . . What are you up to?" He muttered.

Xion thought for a second as she looked beyond Sai's fake smile to see something she would've never thought she see from him, a will of determination and what looked like some pent up anger. She then smiled at him. "Alright, you can fight him."

This surprised Naruto and Hinata.

"Xion, are you sure about this?" Hinata asked.

"Seriously?" Naruto asked as he then whispered in her ear. "You know that he works for that bastard Danzō."

"I know but I think this would be good experience for him if he has to ever fight his own Nobody." Xion whispered back.

"Alright," Naruto started as he turned to Sai. "But I'll chose the two going with you because I realized that I'm gonna fight the last three members."

"Far enough Naruto." Sai and Xion said semi-unison.

Naruto then looked at the rest of the group. "Well Ino, Tenten, Sakura, Shikamaru and Choji all have gone already and I think they deserve a break at least from fighting for a while." Naruto thought. "That leaves Shino, Kiba with Akamaru and Bushy Brows."

"Hey Xion." Hinata said out of the blue.

"Yeah?" Xion replied.

"What was Saïx's element? Cause I've noticed that the other members also used mainly a certain element. Roxas used light, Larxene use thunder, Marluxia use blossoms, Luxord used time, Demyx used water and Axel used fire. So what's Saïx's?" Hinata asked.

Xion pondered at this for a moment. Naruto was listening close to them. "He uses the power of the moon."

"The moon?" Naruto and Hinata asked.

"Yeah, I've figured out that besides Axel and Roxas, the places that the portals are bring us to is where each Organization member was 'permanently' defeated. Saïx was defeated in a room with a giant glass window with the moon outside it at the World that Never Was."

Hinata then came to a realization. "Was the moon there. . ."

"Yes, Kingdom Hearts." Xion stated.

"So this Saïx drew his power from the Kingdom Hearts moon." Naruto stated as he remembered an event during the training month Xion was getting the preparations ready.

(Flashback)

Naruto just finished his training for the eighth day in a row. His element training session with Kakashi and some help from Hinata constantly made him exhausted but he didn't care. He was taking a short walk through the forest. It was the dead of night and the full moon was out. Naruto looked at it and smiled. "Huh, pretty night." He muttered as he suddenly heard what sounded like a wolf howling in the night. "What the-!?" He rushed to the source to see someone he would've never thought he see. "Kiba? Akamaru?" He whispered as he looked, hiding in the bushes.

Kiba sniffed the air and couldn't help but chuckle. "Naruto." He muttered. "Alright then, let's give him a show. Ready for our new move Akamaru?"

Akamaru happily barked in agreement.

"Alright! Let's do this!" He said as he started to make multiple hand signs as he then paused for a moment.

Naruto had a confused look on his face as he then saw something really strange.

Kiba's skin started to change as it went from tan all the way to light red, although his Inuzuka marks were still darker. His hair then became a darker red and started to grow down his back. He then started to hunch over as his muscles grew out, his face became more animal like, his claws and fangs grew out, and his eyes became slinted like Naruto's do like when he is influenced by the fox. His clothes started to rip off, leaving only his pants.

"What in the world!?" Naruto whispered as he then looked at Akamaru as he went through some similar changes. His fur became red, he grew a few inches and finally he stood on his back legs. "Akamaru too!? What kind of jutsu is this!?"

Kiba then started to chuckle, his voice clearly deeper. "Alright! The new technique worked! Ninja art: Dual Blood Werewolves is a success!" Kiba and Akamaru then reverted back to their normal forms after a quick howl to the moon. "Ah geez, I'm gonna need a new shirt now." Akamaru whined a little as the two looked at the moon. "To think we can only did that move during the full moon." Kiba muttered.

Naruto was amazed at what they did. "Ninja Art: Dual Blood Werewolves. . ." He muttered as he saw them walk off, not noticing Kiba smirking clearly at him.

(Flashback end)

Naruto clearly remembered that night and that incredible transformation. "He said that move could only be used when it was a full moon." He thought as he looked at the two and smiled. "Yeah, Kiba and Akamaru would go great against this guy since they both use the moon." The he noticed Lee, still stretching like mad. "I think Lee should go as well." He thought as he sweat dropped.

"Well Naruto, have you decided who would be fighting along Sai?" Xion asked.

Naruto nodded his head. "Yup." He then proceeded to tell Xion his choices to fight and reasons why, except he left out the part with Kiba and Akamaru's new jutsu.

"Alright then," Xion started saying as she looked at Lee and sweat dropped at the sight of him exercising with fire coming from his eyes. "He's gonna be happy about this isn't he?"

"Yup." Naruto bluntly said with a sweat drop again.

Xion then gathered everyone around to announce who would fight against Saïx. Though Xion, Hinata, Naruto and Sai all knew. Naruto decided to tell Hinata before hand and she approved of it, saying that Kiba and Lee have been waiting to fight for a while and that they would like to fight a really strong opponent.

"Alright everyone." Xion announced as she stood in front of the portal with a claymore. "I believe it's time for the next fight." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"So whose is the next opponent?" Shikamaru as he yawned from his nap.

Xion then sigh. "Well, the next opponent is a guy that can basically switch personalities in an instant. His element that he uses is the moon."

"I'm gonna have to guess that the personality changes is also caused by the moon as well." Shino asked, intrigued for the moment.

Xion nodded her head. "Yeah it's the cause."

"So whose fighting this guy?!" Kiba loudly asked. "I've anxious to fight!" Akamaru baked in agreement.

"KIBA IS RIGHT! I TOO HAVE BEEN ANXIOUS T FIGHT AS WELL AND SPREAD MY FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Lee cheered causing everyone to sweat drop again at his antics.

Xion could help but chuckle a bit since she knew they were going to be going against him. "Oh so you three are saying that you want to fight?"

"Yes!" Kiba and Lee said in semi-unison with Akamaru barking in agreement.

"Well the truth was I only thought of one person to go so far. So since you three are willing to go, then so it shall be, you three will being fight him." Xion explained.

"Wait, I thought only a maximum three people could go in to the portal." Ino pondered.

"I think I know of a way that Kiba and Akamaru could go in at once." Xion said as she smiled at them.

"Let me guess, riding on Akamaru's back?" Kiba asked with a smirk.

"You read my mind there Kiba." Xion said, smiling as she watched Kiba get on Akamaru's back.

"SO IT'S ME, KIBA AND AKAMARU SO FAR. WHO IS THE LAST YOUTHFUL PERSON THAT WILL BE BATTLING WITH US?" Lee loudly asked.

"I was getting to that Lee." Xion said as she then continued. "The last person that will be joining you is. . ."

"Me." Sai said as he stepped forward with his fake smile plastered on his face. "Lets work well together. Dog boy, Caterpillar eyes."

Kakashi then palmed the side of head. "Sai, we're really gonna have to work on your social skills." He said to Sai.

Xion looked at Kiba who was obviously pissed at what Sai called him. "Calm down Kiba, it's just cause he not exactly a social person cause of his boss." She then turned to Lee, who suddenly had a mirror in his hand, examining himself and heard what sounded like 'Do my eyebrows really look like caterpillar?' while she then turned to see Tenten banging her head against the wall at Lee's sudden realization.

"Alright Xion, I'll listen this one time." Kiba said as he then stopped Akamaru from growling at Sai. "Easy boy."

Tenten was still banging her head. "He just realized this NOW!?" She muttered.

Hinata decided to pat her on the back. "There there."

Everyone's reaction was different to what Sai called Kiba and Lee. Shikamaru could help but chuckle, Shino remained emotionless, Naruto was laugh his ass off, Sakura dropped her head in shame along with Ino, Choji continued eating his chips.

Xion sweat dropped at the sight. "Moving on, you four can come up here now."

Sai, Lee and Kiba on Akamaru came up to the portal.

"Now remember, the is member number VII, he's REALLY tough in a fight since he's closest to the final six."

"The final six?" Lee asked as he looked at Kiba, who shrugged his shoulder.

"The final six were basically the founding Nobodies of Organization XIII and were Ansem's apprentices that went to work with the Xehanort that became Ansem the Seeker of Darkness for his Heartless and Xemnas who became the leader of Organization XIII." Xion explained.

"Interesting." Sai said. "So they should be the strongest right?"

"Yup."

"Alright, I'm ready to go!" Kiba said as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"YOSH I AM READY TO SPREAD MY FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Lee cheered.

Tenten couldn't help but palm her face again. "Will he ever stop ranting about youth?" She muttered.

"Good luck you guys." Naruto said as he gave them a thumbs-up.

"Thanks Naruto." Kiba said as he and Akamaru entered the portal at the same time.

"Don't overexert yourself Lee." Sakura said, slightly worried for him.

"Don't worry Sakura, I will not!" Lee said as he gave her a thumbs-up and went into the portal.

Sai was about to say but he then thought he saw something blue crawling around. "Hmm?"

"What is it Sai?" Kakashi asked.

Sai shook his head. "Oh it's nothing." He then headed in, causing the portal to turn yellow and everyone else gathered around the computer screen, not noticing something crawling around the garden.

In the arena, Sai instantly took out his notebook and started sketching the Kingdom Hearts moon.

"Um Sai, is that really the time?" Lee asked.

Sai didn't answer him as he continued, getting every detail.

Kiba couldn't help but have a sweat drop as he got off Akamaru, although he didn't take his eyes off the moon. "I'm guessing that's a yes." Akamaru then barked in agreement, also still eyeing the moon.

Back outside. . .

Kakashi sweat dropped at Sai's current actions. "Drawing. . . Now of all times?"

"Sai just really likes drawing." Sakura said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Looks like my plan work." Xion said as she noticed Kiba not being on Akamaru's back anymore.

Naruto noticed Kiba and Akamaru eyeing the moon.

Back in the arena of the future battle. . .

The data started to appear as Sai finished up the drawing.

"Here we go." Kiba said as he got into a stance, not noticing Akamaru suddenly look of displeasure.

"I will show this opponent my flames of youth!" Lee deemed as also got into a stance.

Sai got into a stance after putting his notebook away.

The data formed into a man that had the usual Organization XIII coat, had long blue hair, yellow eyes, pointed ears and a very noticeable X shaped scar on his face. He was holding a claymore that was a smooth, white handle with a grey spike set in its pommel. The guard is a pale yellow semi-circle with four small notches in its outer edge. The lower part of the main blade is thick and has concave sides, each side being lined by three small notches. The blade is pale blue and has blue-grey edges. The lower half of the blade is decorated by two small, light blue diamonds. The tip is connected to the main blade by a pale yellow symbol shaped like the top half of the Nobody logo. "Hmm. . ." He then gave the four a blank but sour look.

Kiba flinched for a moment and then glare back at him. "What?" He smugly asked as Akamaru growled at him, although he was still moving uncomfortably.

"So. . ." Saïx started saying. "Your part of the group that's been taking out our members. . ."

"So you know about our group." Sai said as he stared at him.

"Yes indeed." Saïx blandly replied. "Although, I never expected the doll to be alive again after Roxas took it out."

"Doll?" Lee asked, confused at what he said.

Back outside. . .

Xion clenched her fist at what Saïx said, Hinata noticed it and placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head as Xion looked at her and smiled.

Naruto was still confused. "Who's he talking about?"

Back in the arena. . .

"I mean the one you know as Xion. . ." Saïx explained.

"What!? Xion's no doll you bastard!" Kiba yelled out.

"I guess you don't. . ." Saïx then turned and looked at the moon. "Fine then, I'll explain it to you. You see, Xion was suppose to a replica of Roxas. Xemnas's goal was to replicate Sora's memories and through them, his powers to make our own. Vexen, another member oversaw the project at Castle Oblivion, although our efforts were severely derailed with his demise. That one replica, the one you know as Xion, came to form an identity of her own. It caught us off guard and even eventually learned to pull it's own strings like a puppet she was suppose to be." Saïx further explained.

"Interesting. . ." Sai muttered.

Back outside. . .

"Bastard, Xion's no doll anymore. She's become an actually person now." Naruto muttered.

"Thanks." Xion said with a smile.

Back in the arena. . .

"Yeah so what you ass!?" Kiba snarled. "She's not like that anymore." Akamaru started to bark wildly at him

"This is indeed true." Lee stated. "Her flames of youth are as bright as the morning sun."

Saïx shook his head. "If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter." He kept his glare solely focused on the three.

"Then just die already!" Kiba yelled back.

Saïx then deepen his glare. "What she is now, it'll end with the same faith." He turned to face Kingdom Hearts shining outside the window. He spread out his arms, basking in its lunar glow. "Do you feel it? The moon's power!"

Back outside, Xion started to shiver in fear. "Oh no. . ." She started to back away from the monitor.

"Xion?" Sakura asked.

"He's gonna. . ."

Back in the arena. . .

"Moon, shine down!" Saïx rose up into the air like an angel rising up to the heavens. Light blue flames radiated around him as an unnerving amount of energy seemed to burst out from within his body.

Everyone, both outside and in the arena (except Shino, and Sai) jaws dropped at what just happened.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Kiba and Naruto yelled out, Kiba was covering his eyes from the sheer power from Saïx.

Saïx then roared as he started to slam his claymore, creating a blue flame shockwave.

"Move!" Lee said as they did what he said, now each of them were at the four corners of the arena.

Akamaru suddenly started to back wildly as if he was in pain of some sort.

"What is it Akamaru!?" Kiba yelled as he avoided one of Saïx's attacked as he then rushed into Lee. Kiba then went over to Akamaru.

Lee realized that he need to take off the weights he had on his legs, so after dodging one his attacks, he got some distance from him and quickly took them off, causing two small crater to appear. "Now I move freely!" He then speed into Saïx.

Saïx's eyes tracked his movements as she desperately tried to leap over Saïx's energy ripples. Without warning, he flung his claymore into Lee's path. "MOVE ASIDE!" He screamed.

Lee barely dodged it as it skinned his arm. "GAH!" He then regrouped with Sai.

Akamaru continued barking as Kiba went over to him.

"Akamaru, what is it?" Kiba asked. Akamaru barked rapidly as Kiba understood it and paled. "NOW OF ALL TIMES YOU NEED TO?!" Akamaru shamefully nodded his head.

Back outside. . .

Most of the group was confused at what Kiba had said to Akamaru. . .all except Shino.

"I should've told Akamaru NOT to drink all that water. . ." Shino muttered.

Back in the arena. . .

Kiba tried to find Saïx, but he was moving to wildly. "Well, I think we can use this as an advantage. Let's go Akamaru!" Akamaru replied in agreement as they started to move wildly like Saïx. "Everyone move! Akamaru's gonna get a scent on him!"

"What!?" Everyone said as Akamaru started to spin wildly in the air, after jumping into the air.

Back outside, everyone then knew what Akamaru was gonna do, except Xion.

"What's Akamaru doing?" Xion asked.

"Ugh. . . Kiba. . ." Shino muttered.

"I can't believe he's resorting to THAT now." Kakashi said as he and Shikamaru palmed their faces.

'I don't get it. What's he doing?" Xion asked.

Back in the arena. . .

Saïx calmed down after a while. "I misjudged you three." He then saw Akamaru in the air, spinning as he bounced off the walls. "What kind of act is this?"

Sai then went over to Lee. "What is Dog boy's dog doing?" He asked.

"Dynamic Marking Akamaru!" Kiba called out.

Lee was about to answer but what Akamaru did beat him to it as Akamaru sprayed a yellow liquid.

Outside, Xion realized what Akamaru was doing. "EW! That's disgusting Akamaru!" She yelled. In her mind she was laughing wildly. "Aw man that's frickin awesome Akamaru!"

Back in the arena. . .

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Saïx asked as avoided some of Akamaru's urine.

"That's it Akamaru, think that the X on his face is a target!" Kiba cheered, but also avoiding the urine. "Hey watch it with that!" Akamaru then barked again, sounding like he was apologizing.

Lee and Sai also dodged Akamaru's urine as they tried to fight Saïx. "This isn't exactly the most youthful thing to do in a fight." Sai didn't say anything as he got splashed in the face with some urine. Akamaru then barked an apology again.

Everything was going fine until. . .

SPLASH!

Saïx's face got soaked with Akamaru's urine. He stopped moving instantly as if he was frozen.

"Alright! We got him now!" Kiba cheered as he rejoined Akamaru. The two then felt a very large amount of killing intent from Saïx. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to do what we did." Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I don't that was the best move for those two to make." Sai deducted.

"I believe you are right there Sai." Lee said as he opened the first two gate just in case.

Back outside, Xion went back into a fettle position and rocked back and forth again. The rest of the group didn't bother asking as they had a feeling of why she what she was doing.

Back in the arena, everything was still silent. . . For at least three second until. . .

"All shall be lost to you!" Saïx snarled, blitzing toward Kiba and Akamaru at superhuman speed.

"OH CRAP!" KIba yelled as he and Akamaru barely dodged his attack and started chasing him.

Saïx roared wildly as he chased Kiba and Akamaru, attacking wildly.

"OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!" Kiba yelled as he an Akamaru were avoid another attack from Saïx.

"GET BACK HERE YOU SONNA OF BITCH!" Saïx yelled in his berserker mode.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT OF THAT!" Lee yelled out to him as he tried to get closer.

"I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR OUR SIDE!" Kiba yelled back.

"Kiba!" Lee called out as he tried to defend him.

"MOVE ASIDE!" Saïx yelled as he threw his claymore at him.

"This man is indeed strong. . ." Sai muttered as look on at Saïx with a little fear in his eyes as he attacked Kiba, Akamaru and Lee.

Saïx was so enraged that he wasn't even using human language anymore. Instead his entire vocabulary became a series of snarls and growls.

Back outside. . .

"Jeez he's almost as bad as a Tail Beast." Naruto commented. This caused him to gain glares from everyone except Hinata and Xion.

Back in the arena. . .

"I'm gonna have to open three more gates!" Lee thought as he proceeded to do so.

Kiba and Akamaru decided to make a smart move and hang from the ceiling of the arena as they worked on doing what he did and gathered some moon light. "Whoa, now this is some incredible energy." Kiba muttered as they concentrated.

Sai rapidly made as many ink lions as he could before Saïx decided to go for him. "Crap!" He rolled up the scroll and started dodging for dear life.

It's time to end this!" Both Lee and Kiba thought as they completed what they were doing. Lee's skin turned completely red as he surged with chakra. Kiba made the handsigns as he and Akamaru became werewolves, but this time, Kiba's clothes didn't rip when he transformed. They charged into Saïx, who was still in a crazy frenzy.

Lee gave him a strong kick to the chin, launching him to the air. He then proceeded to move so fast that no one was able to see him and rapidly attack in.

Kiba and Akamaru joined in as they used an improved Fang Over Fang that moved as fast as Lee.

"THE FINAL BLOW!" Lee and Kiba announced as Lee drop kicked Saïx to the ground and Kiba and Akamaru proceeded to drill into Saïx's chest.

Sai then released all the ink lions he made as they started to maul him. He then walked up to him and slashed him in the neck.

"GAAAH!" Saïx screamed in pain as he faded away.

Lee, Kiba and Akamaru returned to normal as they all panted from that intense fight they just had.

"Akamaru. . .Go to the bathroom BEFORE we go into a fight from now on." Akamaru quickly agreed with him on that.

"That. . . indeed. . .was a youthful battle. . ." Lee barely stated.

Sai didn't know what to say from that experience.

Back outside, everyone was speechless at what just happened until the bright light appeared in and out of the arena.

The group appeared at a badlands like area like when they first saw Ventus and Master Xehanort, only there was one difference. That being they were keyblades around them and the only clearing was where they saw Terra, in the middle where the keyblades separated into four directions.

I guess this is. . ." Naruto started.

"The Keyblade Graveyard. . ." Xion finished.

"Holy crap." Kiba muttered as Sakura healed his, Akamaru, Lee and Sai's wounds. She Akamaru first, Lee second, Sai third and finally Kiba.

"That was not that the best move you made Kiba." Sakura angrily muttered.

"I agree with Sakura on this one." Lee said.

The group was beside Terra as they then heard footsteps as they saw Aqua walking towards Terra from one of the crossroad.

Aqua stopped when she got close to him and had a depressed look on her face. "I was told. . . the Master was struck down."

Terra gasped as he then looked away with a guilty look on his face. "Yes. . . That's right. I was stupid and helped Xehanort do it."

"Hold on!" Naruto blurted out, even though they could hear him. "It wasn't even his fault, it was that asshole Xehanort's fault!"

"Naruto. . ." Hinata said as she held his hand.

Aqua gasped as if she was hoping it wasn't true.

"The Master-he tried to hurt Ven. I only fought because I wanted to protect him."

"Their's no problem with wanting to protect your friends." Kakashi said.

"But I was tricked." Terra said as he clenched hi fist. "Xehanort set the whole thing up- all so he could wake the darkness inside me."

"But why though?" Xion muttered.

Terra then looked back at Aqua. "You were right, Aqua- and so was the Master. I did need to be watched. I went astray- but no more."

Aqua was silent for a while with her eyes closed. "What else is darkness but hate and rage? Xehanort is feeding the dark fires within you- making you fight. You'll go astray again. Tell me- how does that honor our Master's memory, Terra?"

"Man. . ." Naruto started.

"What is it Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"I just wondering if was in that kind of situation. . . and it wasn't pretty." Naruto then held his stomach and shivered a bit.

Terra then turned to see Ventus walking from another one of the crossroads.

"The three meet up again." Kakashi said.

"Yeah." Xion said.

Aqua walked up right next to Terra as Ventus comes up to the two of them.

"Xehanort wants me and Vanitas to fight, and make some sort of "χ-blade_._"But the Master said we can't let that happen. . . and he tried to destroy me for it."

"χ-blade?" Aqua wondered.

"Poor Ven. . ." Xion said.

"Yeah. . ." Hinata said.

"I still don't know exactly what it is." Ventus then put his hand to his chest. "But. . . it scares me to death. Even just the thought of it."

Terra then walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Ven. We're here now and we're gonna take care of you."

"At least they still care for him." Naruto said.

"Yeah, like a brothers and sister relationship." Xion said.

"I may have to fight Vanitas after all. If I do guys. . ." Ventus started. "I want you to-"

The group gasped at Ventus was about to say.

"He's not gonna!?" Sakura asked.

"The three of us can never be torn apart, alright?" Terra said "I'll always find a way.

Aqua sighed as she placed a hand on Ventus's face.

Ventus then reopened his eyes as he took then hands off him. "I'm asking you, as a friend. . . Just. . . put an end to me."

The group, Terra and Aqua gasped at his request.

"I guess he would really want to stop Xehanort. . . No matter the cost." Kakashi said, starting to sound a little depressed himself.

The wind started to blow in direct as they all turned to the direction it was blowing from. Walking towards them in that direction was a familiar old man. Beside him, his apprentice appeared. The two stopped as the wind also stopped.

"Him again. . ." Naruto growled along with Kiba and Akamaru.

The rest of the group glared at Xehanort and Vanitas who was holding his keyblade.

Kakashi had a little fear in him, mainly cause of the power he was emitting that caused him to shiver. "Like I said before. . .worse then Orochimaru. . ."

"Behold. . . These lifeless keys used to fill of power- united with the hearts of their masters. On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat. . . as a great Keyblade War raged."

"There is no point in wars. . .just pain and destruction." Kakashi muttered as everyone except Sai nodded in agreement.

"Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me. . ." Xehanort then pointed to Ventus. "χ-blade."

Terra, Aqua and Ventus scold at him as they pressed a metal piece on their bodies, encasing them in light. When it dimmed down they were in suits of armor and strangely had cape now. The group recognized Terra's armor from before but then noticed the armors on Ventus and Aqua. Ventus's armor was green and gold, had a yellow cape, the armor on his knee is gold and bears a sharp, upward-pointing hook on the outer side of each one, his helmet had a notably different design from Aqua and Terra's, appearing more squashed and flat at the top and it also has two prongs on either side of his head which point backwards and angle diagonally upward. Aqua's armor was mostly colored in shades of silver, black, grey and blue. The group was able to notice things like the additions include a silver breastplate resembling an upside-down crescent moon and a dark-visored helmet. Her helmet, like Ventus and Terra's, bears two prongs on either side, with her silver ones wrapping around the sides and angling diagonally downwards. Her cape is that of a dusty-rose color. Terra's cape that he had now was navy blue.

"I guess this is like a final battle moment. . ." Kakashi noted as he and the others felt the suspense in the air. The other could agree with him on that.

Naruto looked at the armored keyblade wielder, then Hinata and Xion, back at them and then back at Hinata and Xion. "Do you girls got armor like that?"

Xion winces at the question while Hinata replies. "Well. . . This actually the first we've heard about this kind of armor. We'll have to ask Master Yen Sid when we see him again."

Xion starts to sweat rapidly as they continue watching. "Maybe I should tell them the armor I had at one point but. . ." She thought as she continued watching.

Terra charged into Xehanort, and Xehanort responds by shifting the earth beneath them to create a rising plateau that carries Terra above the rest.

"Holy crap!" Kiba yells out in surprise.

"To be able to lift pure earth like that. . .and not be a ninja. . .it's just frightening. . ." Kakashi admitted.

Xehanort then lifts the ground beneath himself as well, creating a cliff much higher than the surrounding terrain. While Vanitas strikes Terra with Thunder, and is immediately pursued by Aqua and Ventus, Terra chases after Xehanort, who creates a Keyblade infused cyclone to aid Vanitas against Aqua and Ventus.

The group noticed that the area started to darken as clouds covered the sky.

"Incoming!" Naruto yelled as he saw the cyclone of keyblades.

"Ven!" Aqua yelled as the two were chased by the cyclone.

Vanitas tries to blast them with Blizzard while riding a keyblade on the cyclone, but they dodge it. Ventus tries to fight him directly as Aqua tries to blast him with Thunder but Vanitas dodges it and lands back on the cyclone after getting off it before for a short while.

"Man this getting intense!" Sakura said as the group covered their eyes from the shear power.

Noticing that Terra is getting closer to Xehanort, Vanitas directs the cyclone towards Terra, knocking him off the cliff. Aqua and Ventus watch in horror, and Aqua gets hit by the cyclone, crashing to the ground, obliterating her helmet completely.

Ventus then goes over to her, being concern for his friend. "Aqua!"

"Terra!" Aqua calls out as she casts Reflect magic on Terra to protect him from the cyclone. The spell protects him from the cyclone until the he is pushed up to where Xehanort is, at which point it explodes, blasting the cyclone to pieces.

"Whoa!" Naruto calls out in amazement.

Terra is dropped to where Xehanort is. Terra briefly duels Xehanort until the old man freezes his left arm. Ventus attempts to attack Xehanort from behind, but Xehanort teleports himself behind Ven and grabs him by the helmet, beginning to crush it.

"Ven!" Xion and Terra called out in semi-unison as Terra stumbles forward, probably in an attempt to help Ven, until Vanitas and the Keyblade infused cyclone inexplicably reappear below Terra's feet, hurling him off the cliff as countless keyblades batter his body.

"Shit!" Kiba swore, getting a smack to the head by Ino.

Xehanort and Vanitas stand at the top of the cliff, still holding Ven, presumably so Aqua could see him. "Ven!" When she does, Xehanort first burns and then freezes Ventus.

Naruto clenched his fist as he wanted to punch Xehanort right in the face as Hinata stopped him, shaking her head in disappointment, knowing that it wouldn't work.

As Aqua looks on in horror, Xehanort throws him off the cliff, shattering his helmet off. Aqua was able to catch before he would've shattered to bits, using her own body to protect him. She then got out from under him and looked at him. "Ven, are you ok?" She heard moans from him, now knowing he still alive.

Naruto couldn't help but face fault a little. "Uh, he was frickin frozen. . .OF COURSE HE WOULDN'T BE ALRIGHT!" The rest couldn't help but sweat drop at the brief rant from Naruto.

Back with Xehanort, he turns his keyblade into a purple and blue ball of flame-like energy, which he shoots upwards to part the gathering dark clouds, revealing Kingdom Hearts as he chuckled with his results.

The group along with Aqua looked in horror as Xehanort summoned Kingdom Hearts, Aqua still holding the frozen Ventus.

Kiba, Akamaru, Lee and Sai then noticed something was different about this Kingdom Hearts. "Wait a minute. The Kingdom Hearts that was with Saïx used was a different color." Kiba said as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I wonder if that means something?" Sakura asked as everyone shrugged their shoulders.

Soon the bright light appeared again and the group returned to the garden, Sai being the one who was holding Saïx's claymore and almost falling on his back from the sheer weight of it. Tenten took out the scroll with the other Organization weapons in it and sealed it right next to Axel's.

"Jeez, I wonder what else there's to show?" Naruto asked as everyone tries to ponder when. . .

"Ven. . . Terra. . .Ah-koo, wa. . ." A high pitched voice said.

Huh?" Sakura said in surprise as everyone pulled out a kunai and searched for the source of the voice.

Naruto then looked up to see a creature fall on his face, knocking him to the ground. "Hey!"

The group was confused at what they saw, a creature that was coated with blue fur, darker patches on the back of his head and on his back as well. A domed nose rests in the center of its face, between large black, tear-shaped eyes. Sharp teeth reside in this creature's mouth, along with a long pink tongue. It had clawed hands and stubby legs that have shorter claws themselves. A short tail came out from its rear.

"What the!?" Kiba reacted as he never seen a creature like this before. Even though he was in a different world, it was still an unusual creature.

"Get off me!" Naruto yelled as he tried to push the creature off, but it jumps off him, landing on Sakura, Ino, Lee and Tenten's heads before running off out of the garden. "Why you!" Naruto goes after it out of the garden.

"Naruto wait up!" Hinata calls out as she quickly pursues her boyfriend.

"Naruto! Hinata!" Kakashi calls out as he is then interrupted from a beeping in his pocket. "Oh the communicator from Leon." Kakashi then takes out the communicator. "What is it?" He heard sounds of fire burning and static from the communicator.

"Kakashi, we need you and your group here now!" Leon said.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked.

"Maleficent. . .She attacking. . .need. . .you-" The communicator was cut off.


	44. Chapter 44

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 44: The War Begins

"What is this?" Naruto said as he looked outside of the garden. Plumes of smoke rose from the skies, covering as it darken the sky.

"How did this happen?" Hinata asked, worried for the civilians.

"It was Maleficent." Kakashi said as he and the other came out as an explosion happened. "Crap!"

"Anyway, Leon called after you two rushed out of the garden." Sakura explained. "He said that Maleficent started her attack."

"Jeez, I can't believe the destruction that she caused." Kiba said.

"Kiba, are you alright from that last fight?" Hinata asked, worried for her former teammate.

"I'm a little sore but nothing that can't be healed." Kiba confidently said although Akamaru whined a little.

"But just to be sure Kiba, stay back for now." Shino said as he started to send out some insects to scout out the area. "My insects will be eyes in the skies for us and will report back to me."

Kakashi nodded. "Alright then, everyone we'll split up and possibly meet up with the committee as we'll work to hold off this invasion. I'll be with Sai."

"Good idea." Naruto thought.

"The teams will be the following: Kiba with Akamaru and Shino, Sakura and Ino, Shikamaru and Choji, Tenten and Lee, and the last team will be Naruto with Hinata and Xion."

They all nodded as they headed out to hold off the hordes of heartless. Kakashi and Sai went off to find Leon to discuss their plan of action. Shino stayed put to wait for Shino's insects as Kiba and Akamaru fought off some heartless. Sakura and Ino went back to the town to help any families that need to be protected from the incoming forces. Shikamaru started to plan a strategy at the market place while Choji covered him. Tenten and Lee went and defend the entrance where the heartless were coming from. Naruto, Hinata and Xion however. . .

The three were looking on at the horde of heartless in the canyon below. For some odd reason, they felt nervous and unsure, possibly for the fact that they never seen that many heartless before.

One type that was a very thin, humanoid Heartless clad from head to toe in black, grey, and silver armor. Its spherical, pitch-black head and glowing, yellow eyes are visible in its helmet, and there are two red spirals decorating its visor. It also carries a sword with a gold guard and handle. Its Heartless emblem is on its abdomen.

Another type was a bronze-colored, funnel-shaped, mechanical Heartless with a diamond-shaped opening in its front, exposing its glowing, yellow eyes. Two black, rectangular guns are mounted on either side of its body. There is a silver ring that acts somewhat like a gyroscope hovering around its base, despite not being directly connected to the Heartless. This ring bears a vague resemblance to the top half of the Nobody symbol.

The third type that was there were a large, draconian creature with predominantly dark red skin, save for its belly, which is tan, and its wings, which are salmon-colored, though its wingtips are dark red. Its body is rather thin, while its three-toed feet are quite large, each sporting black talons. Its wings seem rather thin when compared to its body, and its wingtips appear tattered, with several small holes in them. There is a tall, slightly curved spike on each of its shoulders. It's tail is fairly short, particularly in comparison to similar Heartless, and its head is V-shaped and flat. It has beady yellow eyes on either side of its head, and its Heartless emblem is on its chest.

The final one was a very noticeable one since it was the size of a couple buildings. It was a massive, quadrupled Heartless. Its body is predominantly lilac in color, but its back and all four of its legs are violet. Each of the Behemoth's legs have two toes with black claws. It has two large, curved tusks sprouting from its lower jaw that are white on their upper half and lilac on their lower half. It's conical, black horn is on its forehead. Like most other Heartless, it has yellow eyes and a jagged maw. Its Heartless emblem is on its chest.

"We got to stop this. . ." Naruto said as he gripped his blades. "I could use my shadow clones but I wanted to save my chakra for the Data Organization members."

"I know. . ." Hinata said.

"Well, Sora was able to take down this entire canyon. . . maybe we can too." Xion said, unsure of what to do.

"So then do it! What's stopping you?" A rough sounding voice smugly said.

The group saw a muscular and tanned older man with long unruly black hair and red eyes. His only clothing is a pair of black shorts with an orange and red sash covering his right leg, a red headband, and a metal gauntlet covering his left arm. A black tattoo was emblazons his chest. He was hold a massive black sword in his hand.

"And you are?" Naruto asked.

The man looked at the canyon. "Jecht. . . A guy that's somewhat a guardian. . ." He then gripped his sword harder. "So what are you three gonna do? Whine and cry like little babies or take action?"

With Kiba, Akamaru and Shino. . .

"Jeez these little buggers get annoying!" Kiba said as he and Akamaru destroyed another heartless.

"Indeed they are. . ." Shino said as he crushed a group of them with his insects. He was still waiting for his insect to return.

Suddenly a spinning red blur appeared and destroyed some of the heartless that were about to attack Shino from behind.

"You are. . ." Shino started.

"Nanaki, but my code name right now is Red XIII. We'll talk later, lets take out these heartless." He explained.

"Right!" Kiba and Shino said as they continued attacking along with Red XIII.

Akamaru started to get a new idea for an attack thanks to Red XIII.

With Kakashi and Sai. . .

They searched for Leon to talk about what to do.

"Where do you think he will be?" Sai asked.

"We'll know when we find him." Kakashi said

They soon found him, surrounded by a large group of heatless, a wall on one end and a cliff on the other.

"Alright. . .shall we begin?" Kakashi asked.

"I am ready." Sai said as they jumped to Leon's side.

"Good to see you guys here." Leon said as they all had their backs against each other.

"Well. . .we ran into a little trouble along the way." Kakashi said as he gripped a kunai.

"You mean besides heartless?" Sai dumbly asked as he took out his blade.

"Explain later. We got some heartless to take out." Leon said.

"Got it!" Kakashi and Sai said as the three rushed into the hordes of heartless, slashing everyone of them.

With Sakura and Ino. . .

They met up with Aerith as they escort the civilians to a safe area.

"Everyone move now!" Sakura called out as helped a little girl and brought her back to her mother.

Ino gather as many people as she could as she destroyed some of the heartless with her auto-senbon launcher. "We go to protect these people."

"I know," Aerith then started to gather some energy. "And we will!" She then cast a barrier around the area just as the heartless were just about to jump them.

Sakura and Ino got into a stance just in case the barrier didn't hold, both thinking one thing. "Maybe I should learn some magic. . ."

With Lee and Tenten. . .

They met up with Snow as he and Lee showed off their martial art skills while Tenten attacked them with long range weapons.

"YOUTH AT FULL BLOOM!" Lee announced as he rapidly punched and kicks some heartless out of existence.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Snow cheered as he enjoyed the fighting.

Tenten sweat dropped at Lee and Snow's antics. "Similar in so many ways. . ." She muttered. She then took out Marluxia's scythe. "Time to try out my new weapons." SHe started to slash away at the heartless.

"Nice weapon." Snow comment.

"Our group won that in a most youthful battle." Lee explained as he kicked a heartless into smoke/

With Shikamaru and Choji. . .

The two met up with Cid as he and Choji destroyed as many heartless as possible while Shikamaru worked on a strategy. Cid was using the Cid Cannon Mark 3 while Choji used some of his families Ninjutsu.

"QUIT FRICKIN OBSTRUCTING OUR TOWN!" Cid yelled as he used the flamethrower.

Choji sweat dropped as he punched out another heartless. "Wow. . ."

Shikamaru looked at Cid's weapon with curiosity. "Is it just me or is our world behind in technology." He thought as he worked on a strategy.

Back with Naruto, Hinata and Xion. . .

"We aren't scare gramps!" Naruto yelled.

Jecht smirked at him. "Right, you three are just kids."

"Actually we're teenagers." Hinata pointed out.

"Still, doubting if you should fight or not? Jeez, that sounds like a baby to me." Jecht said.

Naruto started to get angry. "Shut up! You don't anything about us!"

Jecht smirked at him. "Really?" He sarcastically asked as he pointed to the canyon. "Then why don't you prove it?"

"Maybe I will!" Naruto then jumped to the direction of the canyon.

"Naruto!" Hinata yelled out as she followed him.

"Hinata! Naruto!" Xion called out to them. "Why did you-?" Xion was about to say to Jecht but he disappeared. "Where did he? Agh! Forget that! I gotta catch up to them!" Xion soon jumped over the ledge to pursuit her friends, realizing that he was right.

After the three left, Jecht reappeared from behind a rock as he started to chuckle. "Works every time." He then faded into nothing. "Just remember you three, this is your story." His voice echoed out to them.

Hinata and Naruto were soon in a cave, the way to the canyon. They were able to see the ruined castle where Maleficent and Pete were.

"I'll show that guy whose a baby!" Naruto muttered.

"Calm down Naruto. Don't let him get to you." Hinata said. "Even though he's right." She thought.

"Hinata! Naruto! Wait up!" Xion called out as she caught up to them. She then started to catch her breath. "Jecht's right. . ."

"Are you sure Xion? He was a guy that came out of nowhere." Naruto responded.

Xion nodded her head as she looked at Hinata. "We came here to train to fight forces that you and the other might not be used to."

"I know." Naruto said.

"Naruto, even though you haven't fought yet, you are still incredibly strong." Xion started. "I recently learned that. . .this is no longer about the training. Me and Hinata are Keyblade masters. . ."

"And our role. . ." Hinata started.

"Is to protect all the worlds!" Xion and Hinata said in semi-unison, giving looks of determination.

Naruto smiled at the two after thinking for a moment. "Your right. . ." He then took out the blades in his holsters. "Even though I'm not a keyblade wielder, master or whatever.," He then sent some chakra into the blades, releasing the energy out the ends. "I too, will protect this world."

"Then it's settled." Xion said with a smile. "Let's stop Maleficent plan."

"Right!" Naruto and Hinata said in unison.

The three then went into the canyon. They stood next to each other as they saw the incoming wave, filled with heartless including some giant ones.

"We can't let them get to Radiant Garden." Xion said as she summoned both of her keyblade.

"This'll end now." Hinata said as she summoned her keyblade.

"Bring them on!" Naruto said as he twirled his blade, that were surged with chakra.

"Take them down kit." The fox said in his mind.

"Can do." Naruto replied.

The three then dashed head first into the swarm.


	45. Chapter 45

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 45: Three Versus Three Million

In Konoha, 2 weeks after Hinata, Xion and the member Konoha 10 left for training.

Hiashi and Tsunade, they were having a serious discussion.

"So. . .are the arrangements set?" Hiashi asked.

"Yes they are." Tsunade said as she took a drink and pulled out a document. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure about this." Hiashi replied as signed it. "Be safe my daughter." He thought as he looked at the sky.

Meanwhile, Hanabi was training with a member of the four man team, Konohamaru Saurtobi after requesting to Tsunade to be in their team (Which she agreed to seeing that Hanabi had a small crush on Konohamaru).

"Your not gonna eat me this time Hanabi!" Konohamaru declared as he go into a stance.

"We'll see about that." Hanabi said as she got into a Gentle Fist Stance.

The two then charged at each other full force, attacking and blocking each others moves.

"Good as ever Hanabi."

"You too." Hanabi said as she then mentally sighed in depression. "I wonder how sister is doing? I mean after what the council declared. . ."

Back in Radiant Garden. . .

Hinata, Naruto and Xion rushed in to the heartless, blades out and ready.

"Let's rock!" Naruto called out as he started slashing through the heartless with his blades from Yen Sid, causing them to disappear into smoke.

"I guess he had to get the first hit in huh?" Xion jokingly asked as she started slashing with both her keyblade.

"Yup, that's my boyfriend for ya." Hinata said as she started to slash with her keyblade and hit some of the heartless with her Gentle Fist Arts.

"Incoming!" Naruto called out as he used a Rasengan on a group of heartless, exploding on impact. "Yeah take that ya freaks!"

"Watch out!" Hinata quickly did a Strike Raid to a heartless that was about Naruto from behind. "Be careful."

"Sorry about that."

Xion was rapidly slashing through the heartless. "Man, I feel like Roxas back when he was dual-wielding Oathkeeper and Oblivion at the World That Never Was. . . against all those Neo-Shadows." She thought. "Or when Sora and Axel fought against all those Nobodies together." She sighed as she destroyed another Armored Knight. "This is my time. . . and our fight."

"Naruto, ready?!" Hinata called out.

"Sure am!" Naruto called back to her.

Hinata and Naruto soon got together and double teamed a group of heartless as they both did Ragnarok-Rasengan and fired it upon them. A large explosion was created, destroying many of the heartless.

"We've gotten better." Hinata said smiling, back against Naruto's.

"Got that right!" Naruto said with a smile, his back against Hinata's. The two then soon rushed back into another group of heartless in front of them.

Xion witnessed the Ragnarok-Rasengan, impressed with it. "Wow, they made a Limit attack together." Before a heartless got her, she used quick reflexes and slashed it away before rushing into to fight a Behemoth heartless. "You what they say, the bigger they are," Xion twirled her keyblades and warped passed it in the air. It then suddenly fell and disappeared into smoke. "The harder they fall." She finished as she landed on the back of a Wyvern heartless, riding on it and taking control of it as she dive bombed into the heartless while spinning, jumping off right as it crash landed.

Hinata saw Xion on the back on the Wyvern. "That's pretty dangerous." She quickly blocked an Armored Knight's sword as she did a Gentle fist attack on it.

Naruto also saw Xion performing that stunt. "Not bad Xion. I not something I would do but still, awesome attack there." He quickly blocked a laser attack from a Surveillance Robot heartless. He then sent some of his chakra into the blade, causing a blue light to come out of it, extending it. "Bring it!" He then rapidly slashed through.

Hinata and Xion joined up again. "So Hinata, wanna double team them?" Xion confidently asked.

Hinata smiled at her fellow keyblade master and best friend. "Why not? Sounds like fun." Hinata activated her Byakugan and then sent away her keyblade and got into her special Gentle Fist stance. "Ready. . .go! Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" She called out as she did it, creating a large dome around a group of heartless. All the heartless outside of it got destroyed while the ones inside got trapped. "Xion now!" She called out, still executing the attack.

"On it!" Xion, being inside the attack started rapidly slashing through the trapped enemies while Hinata made sure her attack didn't hit her. "Time for the end!" Xion then did Magnet, creating an orb of magnetism to draw in a large group of heartless in.

Hinata stopped her attack and rejoined Xion as they went back to back to each other, there keyblades glowing. "Final Strike: Blades of the Masters!" The two called out they started spinning, sending out a large shockwave of energy, destroying all the surrounding heartless. Both of them were panting and a little dizzy as more heartless surrounded them. "I call that move, Barrier Supernova." Xion stated.

"Nice name, a mixture between Hyuga attacks, yours and my abilities as Keyblade Masters." Hinata said. She then glared at all the remaining heartless. "But we still got a long way to go."

"Yup." Xion said as they both jumped into their own group of heartless and resumed slashing.

Naruto witnessed the attack now dubbed 'Barrier Supernova', impressed with it's power. "Now that was awesome." Unknowingly to, an Armored Knight suddenly appeared behind him and slashed him the back. "GAH!" He cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, heartless now started to pile on to him.

Hinata heard the scream of pain. "NARUTO!" She wanted to rush over to him, but there were to many heartless in the way, including a behemoth. "Damn!"

Xion was too busy cause her own group of heartless blocking the way. "Naruto! No!" She called out as continued slashing.

Naruto was being dog piled by a large group of heartless. "God damn it get off me! Gah. . . Damn out of charka. . ." Naruto then decided to make a risky move. "Hey fox! A little help!"

Inside of Naruto's seal was the Kyubi, stuck behind the cage. "Well it seems my container needs me." He cockily said.

"Just give me some damn chakra already or else I'm gonna lose my heart!" Naruto yelled.

Realizing if Naruto disappears, he would too. He was relentless against the idea of giving him chakra but he had no choice. "Fine. . .but you owe me." He then started to send out some of his chakra but. . . "Wait. . .what the hell is this!?" He suddenly yelled as he was blinded by a sudden flash of light.

Back outside. . .

"Uh. . .fox?" Naruto asked him as his suddenly started to glow, still having heartless piling on. "What the-!?" Soon a red tinted light enshrouded Naruto in what looked like a glass sphere, blasting all the heartless off him, breaking the sphere and destroying them.

While trying to get to Naruto to save him, Hinata and Xion saw what happened and thought they heard the sound of glass breaking. "Naruto?" They both thought as they now looked at him, everyone stopped moving to see.

"Don't worry girls, I'm alright. In fact," Naruto said as he slashed a large group out of existence. "I feel stronger then ever." He said with a smile in his new look. The outfit was basically the same except the orange and blue were now replaced with crimson red and black with the designs of nine tails on them. His physical appearance didn't change much except his eyes were red and slinted like a fox. His blade also changed as the energy that came out of them were tinted red, and made it look like he was wielding two buster swords. "Hey fox, do you know what happened just now?" He thought.

Kyubi was growling as he was pissed at what happened. "Those damn fairies! There clothes caused a freakish side effect resulting in this happening! It basically made it so you freely have access to my chakra in this form! If I get out of here I'll-"

Naruto decided to cut him off hearing his ranting at that point. "Well then, since I have access to this now, I should name it. . . how about Kyubi form. . . yeah that'll work." He then resumed slashing through the waves of heartless with his two blades that were temporary buster blades caused by the energy.

Xion became wide-eyed at what just happened to Naruto, still slashing through all the heartless. "No way. . .Naruto. . .he. .he just got a Drive Form!"

Hinata was amazed at what just happened. "Naruto. . .you look incredible." She thought with a smile. She quickly slashed another heartless before it could jump her.

The three soon regrouped as they count about a million heartless left. They were all at each others back.

"Naruto, are you alright? I mean the Kyubi-" Xion started.

"Don't worry, I feel great!" Naruto said with a smile. "I'll have to thank the fairies when I see them again. I don't feel any of the fox's influence at all!"

"That's great!" Hinata said. "But why did this form make it so your wielding buster sword?"

"Heck if I know." Naruto said as he sent out a shockwave after slashing the air. The shockwave destroyed the heartless in front of him.

"How about we finish this with one attack?" Xion asked.

Hinata thought for a moment. "Trinity Limit?"

"Yup." Xion said as the heartless started to charge in.

"Then lets do it!" Naruto said.

The three then quickly rushed into a group of enemies, but it didn't destroy them, they then sent out some energy projectiles at them but again it didn't destroy them, soon they sent a burst of magic but once again it didn't destroy them.

"Trinity Finish!" Hinata, Xion and Naruto called out as they regrouped and raise their weapons together and unleash a storm of energy that hits all enemies in range with a blinding light. As soon as the light dimmed down, the area they we at was completely empty, no heartless in sight.

"Whoa. . ." Naruto pointed out.

"That was stronger then expected. . ." Hinata said.

"You got that right. . ." Xion bluntly said.

Naruto's clothes soon started to glow again as they returned to his normal orange and blue coloring. "Back to normal huh?"

"Yeah, but I think you can use it again when you want to when you need to use the fox's chakra." Hinata said.

Xion then looked at the castle where Maleficent and Pete were at. "Come on, we gotta keep going. . . It's time to end the threat of heartless from the source."

"Got it!" Hinata and Naruto said as the three rushed to the castle.


	46. Chapter 46

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 46: Fighting the witch and her servant

"Maleficent! Maleficent!" The portly feline known as Pete called out, running as fast as he could. He skidded to a halt near the entrance to the room in fear of disrupting his mistress, though the news he carried was urgent.

"What is it, you bumbling fool?" the horned witch known as Maleficent demanded in an annoyed tone of voice, turning towards her servant. "Have my forces invaded Radiant Garden yet?"

"N-no ma'am. B-but. . ." Pete stammered, knowing that she would not like the news and would probably thrust her wrath upon him.

"Spit it out you fool!"

"They're gone! All gone!" Pete answered in a panicked voice, "All of the heartless under your control are all gone!"

To say that she wasn't happy was an understatement. "What!?" Maleficent roared angrily, not unlike her dragon form. "How is that possible, you imbecile!? The number of Heartless were more than enough to overwhelm their weak defenses! Especially their pitiful Committee!"

Pete was already cowering before she called him an imbecile (again) with his meaty hands covering his head in case of being hit. Nervously putting them down he once again spoke, "S-some managed to make it in, Your Highness! B-b-but I-I-I think it's the keyblade Brat and his friends! Some of our scouts reported seeing freed hearts floating away! A-a-and h-he's got more help, Your Highness!'"

"That accursed Keyblade!" she cursed in hate, eyes smoldering.

-

Hinata, Naruto and Xion ran through the empty canyon, blades in hand as they headed for Maleficent's castle.

"Now for the assault on Maleficent's castle." Xion said as she then turned to Hinata who had her Byakugan activated. "What do you see Hinata?"

"Looks like Maleficent's pissed that we destroyed most of her forces." Hinata said.

"She should be, and now we are coming for her!" Naruto announced.

"Right!" Hinata and Xion said together as Hinata threw her keyblade and summoned her glider.

"Get on everyone!" Hinata said, climbing aboard and revving her engines once she was seated. The other two jumped on quickly, not wanting to waste any more time. The trio soon flew off to the castle.

-

Meanwhile with the others back in town. . .

Kakashi, Sai and Leon were still fighting off the heartless, noticing that there seemed to be less of them.

"Something's up. Do you know what's going on?" Leon asked Kakashi as he slashed through another heartless.

"I think I've got an idea," Kakashi said as he looked on towards the canyon. "We're counting on you three. . ." he thought.

-

Sakura and Ino and were healing some of the citizens as Aerith made sure the barrier stayed up.

"Get back here soon Naruto," Sakura muttered as she finished healing a child's wound. "Same with Hinata and Xion."

-

Kiba, Akamaru and Red XIII were fighting the remaining heartless when Shino's bugs returned.

Shino listened to what they said and then smirked. "Time for the counterattack."

"What about your friends?" Red XIII asked.

"Shino?" Kiba asked as Akamaru gave him a confused look.

Shino continued smirking, ignoring their questions as he released his bugs on the heartless. "Great job Hinata." He thought.

-

Hinata, Naruto and Xion were flying straight to the castle, preparing to fight the source of Radiant Garden's current heartless situation.

"Let's finish this." Naruto said as he gripped his blades, ready for the upcoming battle.

"Yeah. . ." Hinata said as she sped up the glider.

"She has no right trying to take over this world." Xion said as she got ready to summon her keyblades.

The group soon approached the castle. "Prepare to land." Hinata announced.

Naruto then smirked at the two. "Meet ya down there," he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He then jumped off the glider and landed on the ground 50 feet below. On impact, it felt like his whole skeleton was rattled.

"Ow. . ." he muttered, shaking off the pain being sent from his legs to the rest of his body.

Xion couldn't help but sweat drop, "That's Naruto for you. In fighting or infiltration, no matter what, he has to be first."

"Yup," Hinata agreed, chuckling but still carefully steering the glider down. Once she landed, both she and Xion hopped off and she turned it back into its keyblade form. "Heal!" Hinata announced as she did a Cure spell on Naruto. "Please be more careful next time, alright Naruto?" SHe then kissed him on the cheek.

"Got it. Thanks," Naruto said back rubbing his cheek, making a mental note never to do that again.

"Let's go." Xion said as she summoned her keyblades. At that moment, some heartless started to appear. "I guess we're expected, huh?"

Probably." Naruto said as he took out both blades and gripped them. "Ready. . ."

"Go!" Hinata finished and the trio dashed into them, meeting the Heartless head-on.

-

"Your highness! They're here!" Pete announced.

Maleficent looked back at Pete, frowning in irritation. "Then what are you waiting for, you fool? Go greet our 'guests', make them feel right at home. . .for they will never be leaving!" She then disappeared in a blaze of green flames.

Pete saluted to his disappearing highness. "Sure thing! I'll give them a pounding they'll never forget!" He then ran off to where the intruders were fighting off their remaining forces.

-

Hinata, Naruto and Xion rushed into the castle, slashing through any and every heartless that was in their way. The three soon made it to the main hallway that branched off into many other hallways full of doors.

"Naruto, send some shadow clones through the castle. It will widen our search for Maleficent." Xion said.

"Got it!" Naruto said as he made 15 shadow clones (and a hidden 16th one) and sent them off on some of the paths.

"The three of us should stay together," Hinata said. "That way, we won't be caught off guard."

Naruto and Xion nodded their heads in agreement. They headed deeper into the castle taking a path that the clones didn't take, not knowing that Pete was watching them at the moment.

Who are those guys? They aren't the boat boy king, the brat or the lackeys!" Pete started to scratch the back of his head in confusion. "I better report this to Maleficent!" He then ran off to go find her. Unknown to him, Naruto's secret 16th cloned spied on Pete as he left.

"So that was Pete, huh. I better report back to the boss," he said as he sneakily disperses himself, causing the real Naruto to get all the memories.

-

The three were running through the castle, trying to find Maleficent and stop her invasion. Suddenly, Naruto received the memories from one of his clones. Not stopping for a bit, he reported to his companions, "Seems like they were expecting someone else."

"They must have thought that Sora, Mickey and the others were here." Xion responded, keeping up with the fast ninja. Even though she wasn't trained the same way as her new friends, years of fighting Heartless helped her endurance and other strengths.

"That's a possibility." Hinata said, easily keeping up with her boyfriend. They soon made it to a large, round arena-like area. "Be ready for anything."

Naruto and Xion nodded as they were suddenly surrounded by heartless. Just then, they heard laughter from a distance.

"Well it seems like the little kiddies have come out to play!" The three looked to see the portly minion of Maleficent. He was smiling wickedly at the three as they glared at him.

Naruto took out his blades and gripped them tightly. Without looking back he told the girls, "You two go on ahead, I'll take care of this fatso."

"Who are you calling fat!?" Pete yelled, indignantly but was ignored. He let out a yelp of surprise as Naruto disappeared like a blur, the heartless around them destroyed milliseconds afterwards.

"You sure Naruto?" Xion asked as Naruto reappeared again in that same instant.

Hinata gave Naruto a concerned look, one that a girlfriend would give to her boyfriend.

"Definitely. Get going, I'll catch up." Naruto said, glancing back to flash a reassuring smile before returning his focus on the dumbfounded lackey.

A moment went by until Xion responded. "Alright, just be careful with Pete and watch out for his barrier. Hinata, let's go!"

"Alright, catch up as soon as possible."

"Got it."

Hinata and Xion quickly slipped by the villain, leaving Naruto and Pete face to face.

"You punk! Just who do you think you are?" Pete asked, enraged.

Naruto smirked as he threw his blade in the air until he firmly caught, gripping it in his hand. "Just a passing by shinobi. But more than that, I'm going to be the next Hokage! Remember it!" With that said, he charged at Pete.

Naruto quickly charged at the portly enemy, blades brandished and menacing. Pete, surprisingly quickly, reacted and threw around himself a few colorful balls before rolling a much bigger, glowing sphere towards him.

Naruto jumped up to avoid the sphere but was surprised when it exploded just when he was over it. The explosion caught him off-guard and threw him back a few feet. He quickly hopped back onto his feet before noticing that a few of the smaller colorful balls were spread around him and that they were glowing oddly.

"What the-" Before he could react, those smaller spheres also exploded, though on a smaller scale compared to the bigger one.

When the smoke cleared, a strange mix of black and white, the ninja was nowhere to be seen. Pete laughed proudly, meaty hands (or were they paws?) on his hips. "Hah! Ain't no one gonna stop the Mighty Pete!" he boasted.

"Oh yeah, 'Mighty Pete'?" a mysterious voice said.

"Huh?" Pete looked around confusedly, not knowing where the voice was coming from.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. And it was getting bigger. Looking up, Pete watched in shock as Naruto fell towards him from the ceiling, blades at the ready.

"Get a load of this!" Naruto yelled triumphantly. With gravity at his side, he slashed at Pete's vulnerable form, producing a few yelps and shouts of pain.

One more slash, this time nicking an ear, and then he planted a foot on the lackey's head. Pushing off, he leapt away and simultaneously left Pete kissing the floor.

While Pete was trying to wipe the taste from his mouth, in a rather comical fashion, Naruto smirked and kept his blades at ready in case of a sneak attack.

"Hah! It's obvious you've never fought a shinobi before! Before those bombs exploded, I switched myself with a Shadow Clone, so I wasn't hurt at all!" Naruto boasted confidently.

Pete gave Naruto an annoyed look. "Bah! I don't care who or what you are, brat, you're gonna be pulverized by me!" He then lumbered over to Naruto, fist pulled back to punch him.

Naruto only smirked at him, standing still as the big lug 'ran' at him. "Give it all you got!" he taunted.

"With pleasure!" Pete replied. Once he finally made his way over, he tried to punch him but the ninja disappeared. "Huh?! Where'd that punk go!?"

"You should never let the enemy get behind you like that," a cocky voice said. "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!"

"Wha!?" Pete yelled out as he looked behind himself, but it was too late. Pete's expression changed drastically.

Naruto jabbed his fingers up Pete's butt as he then pushed them in further. "Thousand Years of Death!" He yelled. "This is so gross. . ." Naruto thought as the fox laughed wildly in his head.

"YEOW!" Pete screamed as he was launched into the air. He face-planted into the ceiling and as he fell, he was knocked unconscious. The scream was so loud that it was heard past the thick walls of the room and to the city beyond the canyon.

-

In Radiant Garden. . .

Kakashi, Sai and Leon were panting as they finished off the last of the heartless, when they heard the painful cry.

"What's going on?" Leon asked as he looked at the castle. He then looked at Kakashi, who was wide-eyed and was shivering, rubbing his behind a little. "You alright? You have a weird look on your face."

"Uh. . . you don't want to know. . ." Kakashi meekly said as he then palmed his face. "Naruto you didn't. . .?" He thought.

-

Hinata and Xion heard the cry as they continued to make their way to Maleficent.

"I'm guessing Naruto won." Xion said as she smiled at Hinata.

"That's my boyfriend. He'll catch up." Hinata said with a proud smile, her Byakugan activated. "300 meters, turn left now."

"Got it." Xion said as they turned into another hallway.

"Almost there." Hinata said.

"What's she doing?" Xion asked.

"It looks like Maleficent is just standing there. I guess she's waiting for us to appear." Hinata said as they made it to a large set of doors. They could feel the malevolent darkness seeping through the cracks. "I can see that the doors are unlocked. She's behind here. Ready?"

"Of course." Xion smirked, summoning her keyblades.

With that, they burst through the doors, keyblades at the ready. The room they were now in was large and circular. It was also very creepy looking with its cracked flooring, torches blazing in green flames and Gothic-styled walls. The edges of the room were crawling with black vines covered in thorns. On the opposite end of the room, a few feet above a small platform, was a set of doors, the Heartless emblem emblazoned and seeming to glow a tainted light. All in all, a very dark and evil room.

And standing in front of the doors was the mistress of all evil herself.

Maleficent smirked wickedly at the intruders. "Well well. What do we have here? A pair of novice keyblade wielders that believe they can stop me and my conquest?" she taunted.

"Enough, you witch!" Xion said angrily, "You have no right to try and wreck this world!"

"That's right, Maleficent!" Hinata agreed, pale eyes hard. "And besides, we're Keyblade Masters!"

The horned witch only cackled in response. "And you think you two will stop me? Others have tried before, but they have all failed!"

Xion smirked when she remembered one of Sora's memories. "Oh really? If I remember correctly, Sora's stopped you numerous times before when he first got his keyblade!" she taunted.

"And yet I still live!" Maleficent sneered in response.

"So what?" Hinata retorted, "That doesn't mean you're invincible! And even if you do survive this, we're going to take you down again!"

"Fools!" Maleficent roared, having had enough of being reminded of her defeats. "Your pitiful lights are feeble and weak against my darkness! With that power on my side, you'll never be able to stop me! Me, the queen of darkness!"

Cackling madly now, Maleficent spread her arms into the air, the platform she was on rising with the motion. Her power increased and the two Keyblade Masters could see the dark aura snaking out of her form in waves. They were powerful enough to force the doors behind them shut.

"That's almost the same thing she said that time," Xion thought, gritting her teeth and gripping her keyblades harder. She looked up at the dark mistress and thought, "And it's probably the same attack, too."

"Ready?" Hinata asked, Byakugan activated and keyblade ready.

"Yeah. Don't go under that or try to break it," Xion advised, indicating the floating platform, "She's got it enforced and will try to smash you underneath."

"Right," Hinata replied.

With that, they charged. Maleficent only smirked wickedly at them.

-

Naruto looked over at the unconscious Pete. "Man. . . I wonder what it was like for Sora to have to deal with this guy." He then shrugged his shoulders and he ran off to where Hinata and Xion were, but not until he tied up Pete, hands and feet above his head.

"I'm not gonna even ask how you did that, kit." The Nine-Tails said in his mind.

"You don't wanna know. . ." Naruto said as he rushed through the hallways. "Hinata. . .Xion. . . I'm coming. Just hang tight and leave some of the fight for me."

-

"Come out, my fiends of darkness!" Maleficent demanded as two Defender heartless suddenly appeared. The duo immediately split off to fight each one.

"Great, more heartless!" Hinata muttered as she blocked it's shield attack. "If Tenten was here, she would SO want this shield!"

Xion chuckled a little. "I'll say." Xion then did a Gravity spell as she flattened and destroyed the Defender she was against. She then turned towards Maleficent. "What's the matter you witch? That all you got?" She taunted.

"Why you!" Maleficent ranted as she raised her staff. "Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!" After the incantation, she summoned a portal that looked like it lead to space behind her. From the dark depths, massive dark blue meteors hurtled out.

"Incoming!" Hinata called as she destroyed her Defender. She then started to run up the wall using chakra, the space rocks missing her by mere inches.

"Crud!" Xion did what Sora did during his fight with the evil mistress and dodge rolled to avoid the meteors.

"Now you'll know the meaning of fear! So run, you fools!" Maleficent taunted, still safe on her floating platform.

"I don't think so!" Hinata shouted as she jumped off the wall and slashed at Maleficent once she was close enough.

"What!" Maleficent yelled in surprise. Her concentration broken, no more meteors were launched and the portal closed. She used her staff to block the next series of slashes from the shinobi.

Xion breathed a small sigh of relief before getting closer to the platform, which was still glowing a sickly blue-green. Casting another Gravity spell, the platform slammed into the ground so hard that it made the witch stumble.

Seeing the opening, Hinata slashed a few more times before leaping away a bit and raising her keyblade. Taking aim, she cried, "Ragnarok!"

The projectiles hit their mark, stunning the evil witch. Xion took this opportunity to get a few more quick slashes in, alternating with her keyblades.

Having had enough, Maleficent sent a wave of darkness from her entire body. It slammed into the duo and sent them a distance away, knocking the air out of them.

"Thunder, light, and lightning strike!" Maleficent chanted, summoning numerous black bolts and shocking the pair. She smirked at the sounds of their pain from the attack. Another wave of her staff and the platform once more rose into the air.

-

"Come on, where did they go?" Naruto thought as he ran through the halls.

After the battle with Pete, Naruto soon realized a major problem in his plan to keep his word. He was lost in the endless and numerous hallways of the castle.

"Man! Why didn't I send a Shadow Clone to follow them?!" he cried out in frustration after finding himself in another dead end.

"Well," he sighed before turning around and rushing off to continue his search, "At least all this exploring got me some neat stuff."

For indeed, he could feel the little bit of weight in his pockets from the unique items he managed to stumble upon. A few of them were small, round glass flasks full of green liquid. When he first found one, he thought it was some weird, otherworldly juice. He gave it a whiff to be sure, but it didn't smell like anything. So he took a small sip and was surprised by how sweet it tasted, almost like honey. The bottle disappeared in a small cloud of blue-white smoke, shocking him.

He was more surprised when he noticed that a small scratch on the back of his hand glowed green a bit before healing. Another item he found was another flask full of blue liquid. After sipping that, which tasted bland, he immediately felt some of this chakra return, though not all of it. Thinking that these would be useful, he kept them for his friends and the battle they were no doubt fighting in now.

"Xion. . . Hinata. . . Hold on. I'm coming to help," he thought as he rounded another corner, determined to make it to his friends.

-

"See the immense power of darkness? Where is your light now, fools!? Thunder, light, and lightning strike!" Maleficent cried triumphantly, raising her staff in the air.

A dark green bolt flew from the tip towards the keyblade bearers, who were still stunned from the lightning attack earlier. When it contacted, however, the two immediately turned into puffs of white smoke.

"What?!" Maleficent shouted in shock. She then stumbled forward as she felt an immense pain on her back. She caught herself by using her staff to steady her as her platform was suddenly slammed into the ground again. Turning around, she was stunned to find the two Keyblade Masters standing and looking better than ever.

"How?" she snarled, green eyes blazing in fury. "How did you escape?!"

"Easily," Hinata said with a smirk, one hand on her hip in a haughty way. "While you were busy ranting and believing that you won, I created Shadow Clones of myself, changing one of them to look like Xion. While they took our place on the floor, we got away some distance and healed ourselves."

"Yeah, so why don't you give up?" Xion taunted.

Maleficent roared in fury before raising her staff again, "Thunder!" Bolts of lightning were sent their way, forcing them to dodge and widen the gap between themselves and the witch.

Another wave of her staff and her platform raised itself in the air again. "Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!" she chanted, once more summoning a rift to space and sending the meteors to the duo.

Hinata once more took to the walls, pumping chakra to the soles of her feet. Xion, who couldn't do that, took to dodge rolling out of the way, though this time, she aimed to get closer to the platform to perform another Gravity spell.

"That's getting really annoying," Xion muttered as she expertly dodged another blue projectile.

Hinata ran closer to the witch, planning on stunning her again, when the evil of mistress turned towards her with a glare.

"Not this time!" Maleficent shouted, pointing her staff at the shinobi.

From the tip, a blazing ball of green and black was released, surprising Hinata. It was quickly batted away with her keyblade, hoping to hit the witch with her own spell, but she was shocked when a bolt of lightning flew through the ball, dispersing it in small cloud of smoke. The bolt hit her dead on and she fell to the ground, consequently right on top of Xion, who managed to get away from another meteor.

"Oof!" Xion shouted, surprised at the sudden weight. They ended up in a mess of tangled limbs and keyblades, though thankfully, those didn't manage to cut them. Unfortunately, the harmful meteor shower was still in effect and they couldn't separate themselves quickly enough to dodge it.

Maleficent cackled from on top of her platform. "Into sleep you fall forever!" she chanted and a smaller, acid green bolt flew from the tip.

It hit the girls, who had managed to separate themselves, and they found that they couldn't move at all. Glancing down, they noticed that black vines kept them locked. Before they could summon their keyblades, which had fallen to the floor, and cut free, they suddenly found themselves stuck to each other, back-to-back.

"Now you face all the powers of evil!" Maleficent cackled.

Xion and Hinata glared at her, feeling a little fear. Even though they could still summon their keyblades, they might end up cutting or even piercing each other.

"This is the end of you, Keyblade Masters!" Maleficent taunted in glee. Staff pointed towards them, a blazing green ball of energy gathered at its tip, darkness surrounding it. When it was about half the size of Akamaru, she threw the sphere to the duo, who closed their eyes.

"Roxas. . .I'm so sorry," Xion thought sorrowfully, "And Axel. . . I guess I'll be seeing you soon." Her lips twitched into a small smile at the thought of at least being reunited with one of her old friends.

"Oh, Naruto," Hinata mournfully thought. She felt tears start to push against her eyelids, but she held them back. "I'm so sorry. . .And Neji. . .I wasn't able to bring you back and now. . ."

"I don't think so!" A voice suddenly shouted, snapping the duo out of their depressing thoughts.

Just before the sphere would have hit the two previously doomed girls and erasing from the universe two keyblade masters, a blade, silver and looked like a stylized version of the symbol of a leaf, flew over their heads. It sliced its way through the sphere, making it disperse into slightly harmless smoke, and continued on its path to the stunned Maleficent. She managed to block the blade with her staff, knocking it away towards a high corner of the wall behind her, where it stuck stiffly.

When the smoke cleared, she was surprised to see a blonde teen standing protectively in front of the two girls, red eyes glaring at her in fury. She could feel a slightly animal-like aura leaking out of him and it intrigued her with how evil it seemed to be. She also noticed another one of those blades in his hands, though kept in a reverse grip. The image, though different, reminded her of another blonde warrior she once angered.

"Well, who do we have here?" Maleficent sneered in contempt. "A little boy who think he's a hero?"

"Naruto!" Hinata and Xion cried in relieved joy.

"You witch!" Naruto snarled in fury. "First you go after this world, then you hurt my friends! Especially my girlfriend! You're gonna pay!"

Maleficent cackled in response, "Oh? You're not a keyblade wielder and not even they are unable to defeat me!" She then added with a sneer, "Not even that other blonde warrior, Ventus, was able to stop me!"

This only served to make Naruto angrier as he gripped the blade so hard that his knuckles turned white. "You. . ." he growled, "You'll pay!" With that, he charged.

"Wait a minute!" Xion yelled out, stopping Naruto's charge. "Y-You know Ventus!?"

Maleficent halted her own counterattack as well. With a smirk, she looked down at them. "Indeed I do. . . Why, the boy's disgusting light was very hard to miss. A Keyblade bearer like yourself, and just as naive. In fact, I know of not only the foolish boy, but of his close friends as well. Xehanort told me much about all of them, even about the young Keyblade Master and especially the foolish 'Peacekeeper'."

Here, she gave a sinister laugh, "The darkness within that boy was strong and he was so easy to control. When I found out that he also wielded a keyblade, I couldn't deny an opportunity to obtain a heart of pure light. With a little. . . persuasion, he used his keyblade and retrieved for me Princess Aurora's heart. When I told his friends of this, they fervently denied the truth. But I could tell that Ventus was upset. In fact, the young boy ran off, leaving his other friend behind."

As Maleficent was explaining this, Naruto broke the girls free from the vines with a quick and subtle slash of his blade. "Here, take these," Naruto reached into one of his pockets and handed the two the vials of green and blue liquids. "They helped me feel better after I beat Pete so I held onto some for you guys."

He then glared back at Maleficent. "So that old fart Xehanort was the one who told her about other worlds. . . I bet he was just using her for something of his own gain." He thought.

"From what I've gathered about this Xehanort. . . he's a manipulator like those damn Uchihas. . ." the Nine-Tails Fox growled in his mind.

"Thanks Naruto." Hinata said as she drank the ether, feeling some of her chakra return. "That witch! She basically helped wreck the lives of three good people that didn't deserve it!" She thought as she finished the bottle.

"Thanks for finding us some potions and ethers." Xion said as she finished her own bottle. As the bottle disappeared in a puff of smoke, she thought, "So she knew all three of them. . .and was part of the reason Terra went down the path of darkness. . ."

Hinata and Xion soon got to their feet with Naruto after the vials disappeared. They all glared at Maleficent, re-energized and ready to fight once more. The evil witch glared back with just as much contempt.

"Now Maleficent. . ." Hinata said as she summoned her keyblade.

"It's time for you. . ." Xion said as she, too, summoned her keyblades.

"To count up your sins!" Xion and Hinata said at the same time as they pointed their blades at Maleficent.

"You're going down now!" Naruto said as they three charged at her.

"Fools!" Maleficent retorted, raising her staff. "You'll never be able to defeat me!" With slight wave of her staff, her platform took to the air again.

Pumping chakra into their legs and feet, Naruto and Hinata sprinted towards her, aiming to stop her before she summoned her meteors again.

Maleficent, seeing their attempts, cried, "Away!" The room darkened slightly, the torches flickering, before bolts of dark lightning appeared to strike down on the warriors.

Xion quickly aimed her keyblades at each of her friends and shouted, "Reflect!"

With that, a nearly transparent sphere of hexagons appeared around the two warriors, glowing as they were hit with the lightning strikes. A second later, after the dark bolts stopped, the shield seemed to pulse and as it shattered, a wave of light was sent to Maleficent, stunning her. Her spell successful, Xion ran to the platform, readying another spell.

Taking this opening, Naruto and Hinata jumped up onto the walls, one on each side, and rebounded off of them. When they crossed next to each other, they slashed at the stunned witch in between them, eliciting a few cries of pain.

"Gravira!" Xion shouted, using her magic to forcibly pull down Maleficent's platform. It hit the ground with a large thud.

"Behold the mistress of all evil!" Maleficent chanted. In a burst of flames, her form vanished and was instead replaced with a malevolent, swirling vortex.

The vortex headed right towards Naruto, who jumped off the walls to get away. But Xion, who was nearby, wasn't fast enough and was hit by its edges, making her cry in pain, her back to the wall and no escape available. It pressed on until a cry of "Thunder!" from the opposite side of the room and a bolt of lightning struck the center slowing it down until it faded away and Maleficent's form reappeared, a hand clutched to her chest.

Naruto swooped in and grabbed Xion, taking her out of harm's way. He placed her back down when he reached his girlfriend, turning back to face the witch as Hinata performed a cure spell on Xion, who nodded gratefully.

Turning around, Maleficent snarled in fury, acid-green eyes blazing. She raised her hands to the sky and green flames surrounded her before she disappeared, cackling. The trio looked around, muscles tense and blades at the ready, before noticing several bursts of darkness around them. From them appeared Darkball heartless, animated black and blue orbs with three waving tentacles, two of them acting as makeshift horns. Their faces were dominated by their large, creepy smiles and its beady yellow eyes quickly locked onto them. They floated of their own accord and shook and twitch almost sporadically.

They charged at the trio, who were quick to defend. A few slashes of their blades, and the dark creatures were defeated. However, they were repaid for the efforts with a shock of pain, literally.

Laughing madly, once more on the floating platform, Maleficent waved her staff in the air and chanted, "Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!"

The meteors hurtled towards the heroes, forcing them to separate from each other. However, before anyone could get close to the platform, lightning bolts struck them again. Naruto stumbled in his wall climb and fell towards the ground. He rolled on impact, and quickly leapt back to his feet.

Hinata raised her keyblade after getting behind Maleficent's back, who just launched a fireball at Xion, which was deflected back at her. "Ragnarok!" she cried, taking aim and launching glowing projectiles at the dark mistress' back.

They hit their mark, but before Xion could attack her, she vanished in a burst of flames. Without its controller riding it, the platform fell to the ground, making Xion stumble and nearly hitting Hinata, who jumped back. She went to Xion and placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. The ex-Organization member smiled at her gratefully.

The sounds of clanging metal caught their attention. Looking up, they noticed Naruto slashing at Maleficent, who defended with her staff. In an amazing display of skill, Maleficent managed to swipe at the shinobi, hitting his head. Naruto stumbled and Maleficent swept his legs out from under him, making him fall on his back.

"Now you'll know the meaning of fear!" Maleficent sneered, aiming her staff and gathering dark energy at its tip.

"Naruto!" Hinata and Xion shouted in horror. They quickly rushed to aim their friend, but suddenly, two Defender heartless blocked their way. Joining them were a few Darkball heartless, who immediately charged at the girls.

Hinata gritted her teeth as she batted away a Darkball's head butt before dodging a Defender's charge. Her eyes strayed to her boyfriend, who was suddenly tied to the ground with black vines. A cry of pain snapped her head to the right, where Xion had been hit in the back by a Darkball, making her stumble nearly to her knees. She kept herself up by using one of her keyblades, but she was panting tiredly and the heartless were still around them.

"No!" Hinata thought in horror at how two of her most precious people were in extreme danger. The charge of a Defender and a Darkball made her leap away, landing her almost exactly between Naruto and Xion.

Suddenly, one of Xion's keyblades was knocked out of her hands and it stabbed itself into the ground near Hinata's feet. Getting an idea and remembering a similar scene before, she quickly pulled it out and threw it at the back of the Defender that was charging at Xion while also throwing her own keyblade towards Naruto.

When the energy ball was a big enough, Maleficent cackled and aimed the tip of her staff at the immobilized boy, who was trying to activate Kyubi form, but was too tired to do so. Just before she could launch the dark spell, a white keyblade, streaking through the air like a shooting star, hit and jostled the staff. The impact changed its direction, making her misfire to the far wall and destroying the statue in front of it in a green, flaming cloud of dust and debris.

Maleficent turned to snarl at the girl who threw it, not noticing that the blade had cut free the fox boy under Hinata's mental direction. He quickly rolled to his feet, picking up his fallen blade as he did so.

"You're the one who's going to know fear, Maleficent!" Naruto cried triumphantly, charging at the distracted witch and slashing at her side.

"What!" Maleficent cried in furious pain, turning back to the blonde warrior. Before he could land another hit, she vanished in a burst of flames.

Meanwhile, after setting Naruto free, Hinata called back her keyblade and went to help Xion, who was slowly giving ground to the remaining Defender and the last Darkball due to fatigue. Keyblade raised, Hinata slashed at the Darkball's back, destroying it. Before she could strike the Defender, it turned towards her and smacked her away with its shield. Before it could turn back to its other opponent, it was destroyed by Naruto, who took the reprieve from Maleficent to assist his friends.

Xion was panting heavily in exhaustion. "Cura!" Hinata cried, pointing her keyblade to the air and letting the soothing magic heal their wounds, though some scratches were still left. Xion was still tired from having to perform numerous Reflect and Gravity spells earlier, so Naruto produced another ether from his pockets and handing it to her, which she took gratefully.

After downing it quickly, Xion asked, "Do you see her Hinata?"

Hinata was looking all over the room, Byakugan eyes seeing past the statues and thick vines. Sighing, she deactivated her Byakugan and turned back to her comrades. "No," she answered with a shake of her head.

Suddenly, bursts of darkness appeared all around them and more heartless entered the fight. Naruto growled angrily. "We don't have time for this!" he shouted in frustration, performing a familiar hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" With that, about 5 Naruto copies appeared, though they had only a single blade like the original. While the clones took care of the Heartless, Naruto and his friends continued to search the room for the evil witch.

From nearby, a burst of green fire appeared, surprising the trio. They could see the faded form of Maleficent and as the flames died down, she grew more solid. She was smirking wickedly at them.

Naruto quickly charged towards her, trying to end this fight. However, before he could get into a meter of her, she raised her hands and cried, "You haven't won yet! Behold the mistress of all evil!" With that, she turned herself once more into the dark spinning vortex of doom. Naruto couldn't stop his momentum fast enough and was hit full force from the attack.

Seeing this, Xion's eyes hardened and she looked at Hinata, whose face had taken a stern expression. She looked back at the ex-replica and they both nodded their heads before raising their keyblades to the air.

"Thundara!" They cried in unison. The bolt hit the center of the vortex dead-on, making it fade away and back into the robed form of Maleficent. She was clutching her chest and panting hoarsely in pain.

Naruto leaped back to join the girls, shaky in the knees from pain, but still standing strong. "Let's finish this!" he cried.

"Right!" Hinata and Xion agreed.

Creating 2 shadow clones, Naruto preceded to perform Rasengan, one in each hand. On either side of him, Hinata and Xion coated their keyblades with power from the light within their hearts. Once all three were finished, the keyblade masters presented their keyblades to Naruto, who touched their tips with the Rasengans. They were absorbed into the blades, making the golden-hued light take on a more blue-green tone similar to regular chakra, though outlined in white. He then took out his own blade and the same was done to it, making the metal gleam in greens and blues, bordered in white.

"Maleficent!" the trio shouted in semi-unison, eyes determined.

"This," Xion said, gripping her keyblades.

"Ends," Naruto growled, eyes turning a fox-like red.

"Now!" Hinata finished with a stern shout, knuckles white from holding the keyblade so tightly.

With that, they charged towards the witch. Maleficent had no time to defend herself, still trying to recover from their previous attacks and the thunder strike shortly before. In flashes of blue and green and white, they slashed numerous times at her prone form, determination and adrenaline pumping through their veins. They were moving so fast, one can only see streaking blurs. They soon leapt away, surrounding her in a triangular fashion before drawing back their blades and pouring more of their power into them.

"Light Style: Rasenblades!" they cried in unison before throwing them at Maleficent, who was stunned in the center not only by the pain, but by how powerful they were. With no time and no energy left to react after such an onslaught, Maleficent was struck by all four blades, a flash of bright blue-green accompanying it.

"No!" Maleficent shrieked in fury and pain.

Time seemed to slow down as she stumbled after the attack. Green and black flames once more surrounded her, but they were slow-burning and as they faded, so, too, did Maleficent.

Before she faded completely, she looked up to glare in loathing at the trio, who had returned to each other sides after retrieving their blades.

"Do not think that this is the end!" Maleficent cried. "Once I return, you will feel the full wrath of my vengeance! Sora as well! And with you all gone, no one can stop me from being the dark ruler of the entire universe!" she then cackled madly as the last of her entire form faded. All that was left was a giant scorch mark on the earth where she once stood, green embers dotting it and smoldering.


	47. Chapter 47

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 47: Fighting a dragon and aftermath of a war

"Come on you!" Naruto said as he struggled to get his second blade out of the wall it was embedded in.

The final attack on Maleficent drained a lot of energy and chakra, especially since he had to create practically three Rasengans. Luckily, he had a few more ethers in his pockets and the group quickly drained them, mostly him though. Like he decided when he joined the fight, he put his returned strength to use and tried to pull out his second blade from where it was stuck in the wall. Needless to say, it barely even budged.

Xion sweat-dropped at the sight. "How did this happen again?"

Hinata giggled a little before answering. "Thanks to that one attack from Maleficent, the blade got hotter and got stuck in the wall." The two looked on as Naruto started to rant a little and summoned two shadow clones to help get it out. She, too, sweat-dropped at the scene. "Dang, it's really stuck in there. . ."

Xion looked away from the comical scene for a moment, noticing a portal nearby where Maleficent faded away. She quickly recognized it from a memory of what happened after Sora's fight with Maleficent. "Ah man, not again. . ." She sighed as she palmed her face.

From behind her, "Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he smashed the wall, finally releasing the blade. Unfortunately, this also released a cloud of dust and he spent the next few minutes coughing and waving it away before he walked over to retrieve his fallen blade.

"Aeroga!" Hinata called out as she got rid of the dust with a small tornado of wind.

"A bit much there, Naruto?" Xion ask as she continued coughing until Hinata got rid of the dust.

"Sorry, my bad. It's just that my blade was really stuck in there," Naruto explained as he picked up his blade and put it back in its holster. "Hey, what's that?" He then asked as he noticed the portal.

Xion sighed as she and Hinata walked up to him and the three stared at the portal. "That Maleficent. . .she just doesn't know when to quit. . ."

Naruto and Hinata spun around and looked at her wide-eyed. "SHE'S STILL ALIVE!?" The both yelled in unison, both in a mixture of shock, horror, and aggravation.

Xion nodded. "Yeah. After Sora and his friends defeated Maleficent the first time, in this same room even, she disappeared into a dark portal, wounded. When they met up with her again, Riku, or rather, Riku possessed by Ansem the Seeker of Darkness, appeared with a unique blade. It was forged from the 6 hearts of the Princess of Heart, though it was incomplete because Kairi, who was the seventh, didn't have her heart at the time. It was in Sora. Anyways, that blade, resembling a keyblade actually, had the power to unlock people's hearts. The possessed Riku used that blade on Maleficent, unlocking the darkness in her heart. From that, she transformed into a powerful dragon, but Sora and his friends managed to beat her, again."

Xion's eyebrows suddenly furrowed, her expression stern. "Unfortunately, they left out something after her defeat. Her cloak and her pet raven, Diablo, escaped the castle and a year later, after Sora woke up from his sleep and took off on another adventure, somehow. . . Maleficent came back. The three good fairies said that Diablo simply came into the room after Sora and his friends headed out and dropped off the cloak into the room. They left soon afterwards to report to Master Yen Sid and the cloak was left to gather dust. . . or so everyone thought. Now it seems like the same thing is happening and Maleficent only looked defeated, in a flashier way, too," she commented as an afterthought.

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, worry in their eyes. The fight had only just begun.

Back in Radiant Garden, all the teams finished off the last of the heartless. Kakashi, Sai and Leon looked on at the castle, panting slightly in exhaustion.

"Do you think they beat them?" Leon asked.

"I'm gonna have to guess so, Leon. . .it's hard to say." Kakashi explained.

The three then headed back to the headquarters of the committee.

The remaining Konoha shinobi and the committee regrouped at Merlin's place as they healed up after the intense battle.

"So what happened exactly?" Choji asked as he munched on his chips.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked his comrade, flexing her hand as it was healed by Aerith, who looked a little exhausted. It was understandable, though, as she had to use up most of her magic to maintain the barrier that kept the evacuating citizens safe.

"He means what happened to all the heartless. . . it seems like they decreased dramatically." Shikamaru said, smirking afterwards.

"Shikamaru?" Sakura asked as they turned to look at him questionably.

"How troublesome. Look, let's think for a moment and answer a question; Who are the only three not here at the moment?" Shikamaru sarcastically asked, noticing Shino smirking as well under his scarf.

Kakashi nodded, also knowing what had happened to the heartless. It took a few minutes for the others to figure out, most of them looking around to see who actually was there in the cluttered room and who wasn't.

It was Ino who voiced everyone's thoughts as she said rather jubilantly, "Naruto, Xion, and Hinata!"

"They must have stopped the source of the heartless," Sai nodded in agreement.

"Alright Naruto!" Sakura said proudly, pumping a fist into the air. She winced a little afterward, having pulled a muscle.

"Heh," Kiba smirked, his eyes proud. "Hinata's grown not only really strong, but also confident."

"She's come a long way," Shino added. Next to them, Akamaru barked in agreement, his tail wagging.

"YOSH!" Lee yelled, a fist in the air and flames in his eyes. "Their flames of youth burn strongly within them! They are indeed strong!"

Everyone sweat-dropped. The Konoha ninja even more so, already suspecting what would happen next. Sure enough. . .

"Gai-sensei!" Lee suddenly cried, his eyes spilling comical tears. "I have failed you! I am not as strong as my comrades and for that, I shall do 1000 push-ups to get stronger!"

With that declaration, he dropped to floor and began his promised task. While doing so, he began to say to himself of the other exercises he would do if he failed to complete the previous one. This only made the Konoha ninjas sweat-drop more and earned him weird looks from the Committee.

Leon, an eyebrow raised, turned to Kakashi. "Is he always like this?" he asked.

Kakashi sighed a bit before turning to answer the warrior. "It's worse when his teacher is with him."

This only served to creep Leon out a bit, but he hid the expression well. With a slight cough, he turned back to everyone in the messy room.

Kakashi bit his lip, but it was hidden behind his mask. He knew that Naruto and his group had gotten stronger. They had even taken out the source of these heartless. But a foreboding feeling had settled on his shoulders a moment before, heavy and dark and stayed there.

Their fight wasn't over yet. He could only pray that they would make it back safely, if not victoriously.

Back in the castle. . .

"You've gotta be kidding me!?" Naruto ranted indignantly. "Maleficent's pulling the same crap like she did with Sora!?"

Xion sighed. "Apparently so. . ."

"She still must think we aren't that strong. . ." Hinata said, a little insulted. It strongly reminded her of how Neji and some of the other members of the Hyuga clan thought of her, especially before she got her keyblade.

"She is a stubborn witch. . ." Xion pointed out. The three then stared at the portal for a moment. "I guess we better head in there."

"Yeah." Hinata agreed.

"Time to end this!" Naruto said as he took out his blades.

"Just don't get your blade embedded in a wall again." Xion reminded him.

The three started to chuckle a little at that, especially at how Naruto struggled to get his blade out of the wall minutes before. "I'll try not to." Naruto replied with a sheepish smile. The three then went in, ready to fight and determined to defeat the horned witch.

It startled Naruto and Hinata as they went through the portal. While they weren't hurt by it, it was certainly different from Xion's light portals; this one just felt colder and even darker. Luckily, their clothes prevented any of the more harmful side effects.

Xion, who had used the dark Corridors before when she was still with the Organization, wasn't all that affected by the portal. Though she did glance back to give a worried look to her companions.

When they made it through to the other side a few minutes later, they found themselves in a room bigger than the last one. The first thing they noticed was how tall it was, the windows at the top of the rounded roof showing the sky outside, blue slowly fading into purples, oranges, and pinks. The walls were practically covered in pipes of all sizes and metallic colors, steam leaking out every once in a while. The edges of the walls were lined with thick clumps of black thorns, the same as the one in the previous room. The floor was made of stone, with some sort of carving engraved lightly in the center and spreading out.

In the center, and glaring at the trio hatefully, was a familiar horned figure in black robes.

"It's over Maleficent!" Naruto shouted to the witch.

"Fools!" the dark mistress sneered. "You have only defeated a mere illusion of me! My power is immeasurable!"

This piece of news shocked the trio and a chill went down their spines. Only then did they notice that Maleficent didn't look at all injured, no scratches or rips in her robe from their attacks in the room before.

"What?" Hinata whispered, eyes wide. "You mean that she's only been holding back?"

Xion looked worried and surprised. "I had no idea that she could create illusions of herself; and such powerful ones too," she said quietly, biting her lip.

Naruto was also shocked at the news. But instead of getting worried, his glare hardened. "So what? That still doesn't mean you're unbeatable. If we were able to take down an illusion, than there's a chance that we could take you down!" he shouted in determination.

Seeing how Naruto didn't back down and his never-giving-up attitude, the two Keyblade masters felt their spirits lift and they straightened back up from their hopeless slumps. Xion even gave herself a shake as though it would dispel that pessimistic feeling that had seemed to take over her.

"Yeah," Hinata agreed, lifting her head back up from staring at the ground in defeat. "Yeah, he's right. Even if that chance is small and that we might lose," she said, a fire of determination in her pale eyes.

"It's still a chance," Xion finished for her, pointing a keyblade at the witch. "And that's a chance we're going to take!"

Maleficent cackled in response. "Insignificant imbeciles!" she jeered wickedly. "You think that just by besting an illusion of my weaker self, you are able to defeat me?"

"Well, that's what the power of light does best!" Xion shouted in retaliation. "Winning even though the odds are against it!"

"And no matter what, we'll never give up!" Hinata added in.

"Yeah, so get ready to lose, you witch!" Naruto yelled, blades gripped tightly in his hands.

"So be it!" Maleficent declared, eyes glaring and a smirk on her lips. "You think that your feeble light will help you win?! You were doomed from the very beginning! And now, you shall taste the true power of darkness!"

As she spread her arms wide, her entire figure was engulfed in a gigantic pillar of green flames. Her shadow lengthened and the flames began to distort into a shape. Bony wings appeared first, followed by four gigantic limbs, two in front and two in the back, and ending in a set of sharp claws. As the fiery pillar faded away, a long snakelike neck topped with the head of a lizard appeared and glared down at them. The head had two long, curved horns, and its eyes were a pupil-less acid green. Its body was covered in black scales and its underbelly was a deep purple. Green flames licked its maw, the light glinting off the many sharp fangs.

With a ferocious roar, the transformation was complete. Maleficent had transformed into a giant, black dragon.

Naruto blankly stared at the dragon, blinking his eyes three times before yelling, "ARE YOU FRICKIN' KIDDING ME! We have to fight a dragon of all things?! It's practically that Heartless snake version of Orochimaru from the Chunin Exam!" He continued to fume a little more and the two girls sweat-dropped at the scene he was causing.

This did not, however, amuse the giant lizard. If anything, it only served to aggravate her. Maleficent, in dragon form, roared loudly, the force from it almost pushing the three back a little. It certainly caught their attention though as they struggled a bit to stay on their feet.

"Well I never said she wasn't one for being menacing." Xion pointed out through grit teeth.

"You've made your point there!" Hinata said as Maleficent started to attack by launching green fireballs. "Barrier!" She quickly put up a shield, blocking the attack. The force made her clench her jaw, a little sweat running down her neck as she struggled to maintain her shield.

Noticing his girlfriend's trouble, Naruto quickly came to a decision. "Split up!" he commanded and the moment the attack stopped, the shield disappeared and they did as he said, each of them running to a different corner of the arena.

Hinata wiped the slight sweat from her brow, but she kept most of her focus on Maleficent, who was swaying her reptilian head to and fro from one warrior to the other.

The dragon, irritated, reared itself up onto her back legs for a moment before slamming the ground hard. The shockwave that followed was tinged in white, green, and purple and it hit all of them, making them stumble. Before they could regain their footing, Maleficent spun around quickly, her long tail lashing out at the warriors and swatting them to the walls.

Hinata and Xion were slammed into the wall and pipes, but Naruto managed to flip himself and planted his feet on the large pipe behind him. Pushing off, he hurtled towards the dragon's body, which was turned towards Xion, who was just getting up with a hand to her head. He slashed with his blades at the exposed side, feeling the resistance of metal against thick dragon hide. He only managed to leave a few shallow cuts before Maleficent twisted her long neck around and snapped at the blonde, forcing him to jump away.

Meanwhile, Hinata, after getting back up, was taking careful aim at the dragon's head, keyblade pointed towards it. "Ragnarok!" she cried, sending out bright projectiles to the head and landing her mark, earning her a slight roar of pain from the dragon.

A fireball joined the fray, courtesy of Xion who had recovered from the assault. She was little disoriented, having hit her head on the thinner metal pipe with a loud 'Clang!' and bending it, but that wasn't going to stop her. With careful precision, Xion threw one of her keyblades at Maleficent's head, halting her focus as she tried to prepare a glowing green fireball and hurl it at the blonde shinobi.

Naruto took this opportunity to slash at her snout, finding that it was harder and more solid, but seemed to be the weak spot as the damage was much more immediate. Hinata and Xion were firing other spells at the dragon, making sure she never had the opportunity to retaliate.

Maleficent was beyond irritated now. With a roar that sent the keyblade bearers stumbling and causing Naruto to fall to the ground, she fired a stream of black and green flames to the fox-boy. Before it could hit, a barrier rose up around him, translucent hexagons glowing brightly as they absorbed the attack. However, some did manage to escape and split off to touch the thorns surrounding them. They quickly caught ablaze, surrounding the arena in bright green and black flames.

Xion was strongly reminded of her fight against the data-Axel, beginning to sweat. She noticed that the heat was also starting to get to Hinata who wiped her brow from sweat for the second time that day. A burst of light to the other side of the room broke her from her thoughts, which was followed by an inhuman moan of pain.

Xion quickly took off to join Naruto, noticing Hinata doing the same. They grouped back together in front of Maleficent's draconian head, which was shaking to and fro in a vain attempt to stop the pain and dizziness from the second effect of Hinata's Reflect spell.

They began their assault, blades glinting in the eerie light as they slashed at her head. Maleficent had shaken the pain off and took to stomping the ground, sending smaller shockwaves that stumbled them a bit.

Blades flashed, spells were cast, the ground seemed to pulse erratically, claws ripped through the air, and jaws snapped. All the while, the flames surrounding the combatants burned on.

The trio were sweating profusely and it was getting harder to continue the fight. The heat was getting to them, draining their energy and weakening them. But Maleficent seemed to be empowered by the flames and the heat. A roar of fury was followed by a stream of fire spewing out of her maw. They barely managed to dodge it, the fire licking their heels.

They found themselves split again but before the girls could focus and cast spells from afar, Maleficent lashed out with her tail, whipping them dangerously close to the fire barrier.

Naruto was getting irritated, the heat not helping much. The Nine-Tailed fox was quiet in the back of his mind, though if he focused, he would detect the fox's interest in the flames. Fingers in a handsign, he called out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" In puffs of smoke, at least thirty clones appeared, blades at the ready.

The group charged, accompanied by lightning strikes and glowing streaks of light courtesy of the keyblade masters. Maleficent was not to be deterred at the sight of such a large number of opponents. Her upper half lifted itself off and she quickly slammed herself back to the ground, releasing fireballs shortly afterward. Nearly half of the clones were destroyed in the process, plumes of smoke littering the area. A blow, this one freezing, caught her attention and she whipped around to see Xion glaring determinedly at her, one keyblade pointed towards her. Next to her was Hinata, who also had her own keyblade raised next to Xion's.

Her attention shifted, no one noticed the crowd of Naruto clones suddenly split up. In between them was the real Naruto, who was being flung by two more clones towards Maleficent's exposed back. As he flew through the air, his blades flashed in the light. Lifting them up, he stabbed Maleficent in the shoulder blades, producing a loud roar of pain and fury.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered as he landed on Dragon Maleficent's back. Maleficent started to shake wildly, trying to get Naruto off of her, but didn't succeed; Naruto stuck to her like glue. "Hey, fox!" He yelled mentally, talking to the Nine-Tails. "Look, I know you don't like what the fairies did but will you quit being a baby about it and just get over it, damn it!"

The Fox grumbled, muttering under his breath about something involving who knows what. "Whatever. . ." He finally said. "You owe me meat sack, and also. . .nevermind." He then sent out his chakra with a flick of his paw.

Naruto smirked as he went into Kyubi Mode in a blinding red-tinted light. His clothes changed from orange and blue to dark red and black. The energy swirled around him, creating the marks of nine tails on the red parts of his clothes. His eyes turned red and the pupils thinned into slits like a fox as his whisker marks became more feral. The energy that came out of the blades once again shifted as they went from normal swords coated in blue to red-tinged buster swords. Naruto rested one on his shoulder as he spun the other one with ease, his strength increased.

"Alright. . .let's do this." He said with a smirk. With that, he began slashing at Maleficent's back, causing the witch-turned-dragon to roar in pain. As she spun and stomped around, the rest of the clones were trampled and smacked into the firewall, where they turned into puffs of smoke. Luckily, the girls were far enough away to not get hit.

Xion looked on at Naruto's Drive form. "Gotta say, that's still impressive," she commented to Hinata, who nodded in agreement, a proud smile on her face.

"I guess Naruto and the Fox have a mutual agreement for now." Hinata thought as they looked on at the dragon. "Attack at once?" She called out.

"No question about it," Xion answered.

"Let's get it done!" Naruto called back.

Xion and Hinata raced to the front of the dragon, seeing that it was more distracted by the blonde shinobi on her back than at the incoming keyblade bearers. Maleficent's long neck was twisted to try and take a bite out of Naruto, but he fought back with his buster swords.

At one point, Maleficent managed to clamp her jaws around Naruto, but was rewarded with the smoky puff of a shadow clone. The real Naruto had dived under the head and, with a burst of strength, slashed at the dragon's neck via crossed blades. At the same time they connected, Xion and Hinata, whom had managed to reach the front of Maleficent's draconian body, slashed at her neck, nearly on the direct opposite side of the dragon's neck. Their blades crossed as well, Xion slashing from left to right and vice versa from Hinata. This earned them a loud roar of pain from the dragon.

Naruto leapt back a bit, but still stayed on the dragon's back. "Hah, is that all you got?" he taunted with a smirk.

Below, Xion and Hinata were preparing a powerful blizzard spell, but Hinata managed to quip in, "This is the end of you Maleficent!"

"And this time, stay dead!" Xion added, though she was worried. The fight so far had almost been too easy.

Maleficent had had enough. Her head to the sky, she expelled a humongous pillar of green fire, the flames around them rising higher. The stream, no, river of fire burst through the roof, creating a hole big enough for even the Nine-Tailed Fox to fit through, its edges melted and smoldering. The girls' concentration broke in surprise at the change of events.

She reared up and slammed into the ground, the shockwave pushing the keyblade masters back. Naruto stumbled, but otherwise stayed on. However, he was surprised when the air left his lungs as some outside force pushed him down and, though he tried to stab a sword into the dragon in order to stay on, he fell off and was thrown onto the floor, rolling until he stopped on his back. With a groan, he opened his eyes and found the answer as to why he had fallen off:

Maleficent the dragon had taken flight, slipping through the hole she made. She circled the remainders of the roof, roaring loudly.

Back with the Committee. . .

Everyone was busy resting up and regaining their strength. Their physical injuries had been healed, but now they had to wait for their chakra and magical energy to return. Some of them were curious as to why it was taking a long time for Naruto and his group to return, but they were confident that they will return, notably Kiba and Sakura.

However, Kakashi just couldn't shake off that foreboding feeling he had ever since they had regrouped in the wizard's house. He knew that some of the others were worried, too, but most of them were content with resting (and eating, in Choji's case as he munched on his chips).

Some had even taken an interest in the room's contents and asking the Committee members questions. Sakura and Ino were sifting through a few books and when he glanced to look, he caught the title, 'Magic 101 for Dummies,' on one of them. Tenten was chatting with Yuffie, mostly questioning her giant shuriken and admiring it. In turn, Yuffie asked questions about the weapons Tenten had in her arsenal (though she didn't summon them out as it took chakra to do so). Kiba was chatting with Nanaki, or Red XIII, and Akamaru even added in a few barks himself, the red-furred creature apparently able to understand him. Sai was busy drawing in his sketchbook and Lee was still doing his push-ups in the corner, now being joined by Snow. Shino and Aerith were conversing quietly, something about the attraction his bugs felt towards the unique, otherworldly flowers when they were making their way back to the house. Cid and Leon were explaining the computer and all the other technologies they have to Shikamaru and Choji, though the latter seemed to be more focused on eating his chips.

With his sharp eye, Kakashi managed to detect the suspicion and worry in only Shikamaru, Leon, Sai, Aerith, and Shino, though they were good at hiding it. The rest of them were calm and confident about their missing friends. He knew that he should trust the young shinobi, but as the only experienced Jonin among their group, he couldn't help but worry. He could barely focus on his book because of it.

As the masked (and perverted) jonin tried to figure out the cause of his worry, Sai had looked out into the window, hoping to see if there was anything really worth drawing outside, when he saw a pillar of green flames reaching straight into the sky. With wide eyes, he suddenly rushed outside, catching everyone's attention and prompting them to do the same. What they saw shocked them and the following roar nearly made them clamp their hands to their ears. But the thing that struck fear and horror into their hearts was not the 'what' but the 'where'. The pillar of flames may have vanished, but they already figured out the location.

The source was coming from the dark castle, where Naruto, Hinata, and Xion were last seen.

Back in the castle. . .

Hinata and Xion made their way over to the fallen shinobi, but before they could reach him, Naruto gasped and pointed upwards. Turning their attention to the hole in the roof, they saw Maleficent glare down at them, wings flapping to keep her airborne.

Green fire built up in her maw and, realizing what she was about to do, they quickly pulled Naruto to his feet and ran away as quickly as they could. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by the ever-rising flames and there were no ledges they could jump onto. With nowhere else to run, Hinata and Xion turned around, keyblades raised and magical energy building up within them.

With a roar, the dragon released another stream of green flames, angling her head to directly hit the heroes. Just before it hit, the keyblade bearers cried, "Reflega!" and a large sphere made of transparent hexagons appeared around them.

The flames surged around them, some being absorbed by the magical barrier. The heat was nearly unbearable, draining the Keyblade Masters of their already falling energy as they continued to hold up the barrier. Seeing their struggle, Naruto had to bite his lip in utter frustration at not being able to help, not knowing any magic and his attacks, blades and jutsu, practically useless against the heat and fire. He had even run out of the ethers and was stuck with just three potions left, not even able to use them in fear of breaking their concentration.

Maleficent pressed on, unrelenting and vengeful of her ruined plans. If she could not crush them, then she would just settle with frying them alive.

Unnoticed by any of them, as the temperature rose higher and higher in the room, many of the smaller pipes began to melt. But something else was happening to the bigger and thicker pipes. They were expanding and glowing an angry red, some steam bursting through the cracks in-between segments.

Xion noticed the pipes that were expanding. "Oh no! No no no!" She yelled, her limbs shaking from having to keep up the barrier. "We gotta beat her quick and get out of here!"

"What do you mean!?" Naruto asked, a little worried.

"This place is gonna blow at any minute!" Xion indicated the heated pipes with a quick nod of her head, wanting Naruto to look as well.

"How are we gonna get out of here though!?" Naruto, panicking after looking and realizing the danger, asked. "We're basically stuck with the witch breathing fire on us while you two are keeping a barrier up!" He then heard a frustrated sigh from the fox. "Oh what now, fox!?" He thought, speaking to the fox.

"You really are a dobe like the Uchiha said." The Fox commented.

"What was that!?" Naruto said in a irritated voice.

The Fox then palmed his muzzle with a giant, clawed paw. "Just get a loud enough roar in to blast back the flames at the dragon. I will not let my container get killed by something as weak as an over-sized lizard."

"Figures you just want to upstage someone." Naruto sighed as he focused back on the incoming flames.

He intensely stared at the fire, noticing that their group was in the exact center of the room. He then turned to his companions, who were nearly to their knees, and spoke, "Guys, the fox had an idea. When I give the signal, release the barrier."

Xion glanced back. "Naruto, are you crazy? We're gonna get burned alive! And I, for one, don't want to end up like a crispy dinner!"

"Just trust me, okay?" Naruto said reassuringly, face serious.

Xion looked about to protest, but Hinata interrupted, though it was hard to as she had to keep most of her attention on the Reflect spell. "We trust you, Naruto." she declared, giving a stern glance to Xion.

Seeing how serious they were, Xion finally nodded. The two keyblade bearers turned back to place almost all their focus on keeping the barrier up, waiting intently for the blonde's signal.

Meanwhile, Maleficent was finally letting up the flames, believing the trio would never have survived such an onslaught of heat. After all, there was a limit to how long one can keep up a barrier, and against such an intense attack while also being surrounded by additional flames, there was no way they could have lived. There was probably nothing more than ashes left in the room.

Once the flames disappeared completely, she snapped her jaws closed. A small flick of her tail, and she landed on the very edges of the tower, wings slightly open to keep her balance, her claws tearing into the hot metal and keeping her grip. She looked in and through the hole she made; what she saw surprised her.

Naruto, noticing the flames blasting against the barrier beginning to lessen, got ready, feeling the chakra, both his and the fox's, build up within him. He closed his eyes to help his concentration, taking to feeling the weakening stream of fire.

The moment the dragon stopped and closed her maw, Naruto's eyes snapped open, alight with the demon chakra. "Now! Get down!" he shouted, tilting his head upward and shifting into a wider stance.

Xion and Hinata broke their concentration on the barrier and immediately dropped to the floor. The barrier, glowing a bright white from the energy it had managed to absorb, broke and they felt the familiar pulse of retaliating energy surge upwards. But they were surprised to feel and hear another pulse go along with it.

It was Naruto, who had let loose a tremendous fox-like bark upwards and infused it with his chakra, pushing the flames surrounding them in the same direction. The force of the bark and the added flames combined with the rebounding energy of the broken Reflect spell, creating a pulse of immense power.

It surged outwards and smacked Maleficent right in the face, eliciting a roar of pain and surprise from her. Maleficent's face started to get burned from her own flames, shaking her head wildly with her eyes closed.

Naruto quickly made some shadow clones. "Alright guys, launch us up!"

"You got it boss!" The clones saluted before rushing to position.

"Wait, what!?" Hinata and Xion protested, but they were too late. The clones grabbed all three of them and threw them into the air, landing them on Maleficent's back. She was too distracted by her burning snout to notice.

"Naruto. . .never do that again." Xion said as she began to calm down from the rush upwards.

"Don't worry, that was a one time thing." Naruto reassured, a mischievous look on his face. Hinata was too busy cooling herself down after having been nearly cooked.

The flames then cleared from Maleficent's face and she looked down into the hole again to find them, not knowing that they were on her back. Thinking she destroyed them, she then started to fly off, straight to Radiant Garden.

"She's heading for the city." Naruto whispered, making sure that Maleficent didn't know they were on her.

"Should I summon my glider?" Hinata asked to her fellow master.

"No, we can't let her know we are here until the right moment." Xion explained.

"Being?" Naruto then asked as the three heard a snarl. "Crap. . ."

Looking up, they noticed that Maleficent was glaring at them. With a roar, the dragon twisted in flight, hoping to throw them off. Unfortunately for her, they stabbed their blades into her back and gripped onto them, not only inflicting pain, but also staying on her back.

Maleficent stopped in midair, wings flapping strongly. She turned her neck back to the trio and roared. Using her long neck, she reached to snap them up in her jaws.

Xion reacted and, raising her second keyblade, shouted, "Reflect!"

A sphere of hexagons surrounded the three and they watched as Maleficent bit onto the barrier, making it glow on impact. An unwise move. Maleficent received a shock for her trouble and she reared back with a shriek. Then, the magical shield shattered and sent a small pulse around them, hitting Maleficent in the back of the neck, making her stumble in flight.

They trio used this opportunity to attack, seizing the opening as the dragon tried to shake off the pain. Tearing their blades from the dragon's back and rearing it back, they gave each other a look then nodded.

With that silent word of agreement, they stabbed the dragon in the back of the neck, right where it joined the rest of the body. Maleficent gave a tremendous roar of pain before falling unconscious, literally.

Realizing the consequence of defeating the same dragon that kept them in the air, they screamed as they fell with her. Fortunately, after the initial panic, Hinata's common sense returned and she quickly turned her keyblade into a glider, catching Xion and Naruto.

The unconscious dragon hit the ground with a large thud, blowing up dust and dirt. As they looked down on it, they noticed there was a group of people nearby. A familiar group of people.

Widening their eyes and smiling, Hinata flew the glider down and landing. Turning it back into a keyblade and then dismissing it, she suddenly found herself nearly tackled clean off her feet as someone hugged her. It took a second for Hinata to recognize that it was Kiba that was hugging her, but by that time, Kiba had already lifted her and spun her in the air a bit before setting her down and letting go.

"Hinata!" Kiba shouted in joy. "You're okay!"

Behind him, Shino came up and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Great job," he said quietly and proudly. "I knew you could pull through."

Hinata smiled brightly in return. "Thanks guys," she said gratefully.

The sound of barking and laughter caught her attention, and she turned to find that Xion had been knocked onto her back by Akamaru. She was laughing as the giant canine slobbered her, giving him pats in return and scratching behind one of his ears.

"Haha!" Xion laughed, thoroughly enjoying the slobber-fest and affection. "Down Akamaru! It's great to see you again after all that! Haha, down!"

On her other side, she found Naruto on the ground holding his head, trying to hide the big welt between his blonde locks. She turned fully and noticed that Sakura was next to him, a fist raised and face raging mad. But she wouldn't be fooled; she could see the worry in her green eyes.

"Naruto, you baka!" Sakura yelled. "You had me worried sick! What were you thinking? I should hit you again for making me so worried when we saw those green flames!" She raised her fist threateningly again to show that she meant it.

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto lamented, hesitatingly getting up with a hand to his bruised head. "But we had to stop her or else this entire world would get overrun!" he defended.

"Naruto, Hinata, Xion. . .you did it." Leon interrupted as he looked at Dragon Maleficent. Though he didn't show it, they could feel his surprise that they could defeat such a powerful foe.

"Ah man, you knocked out that dragon like it was nothing! Gotta say, I'm impressed." Yuffie said as Snow agreed with her, an enthusiastic fist in the air.

"YOSH! THIS WAS A MOST YOUTHFUL VICTORY FOR THE SIDE OF GOOD AND JUSTICE! IF GAI-SENSEI WAS HERE HE WOULD BE PROUD!" Lee blurted out with fire in his eye and tear-streaks.

Tenten palmed her face at the sight. "He'll never change." She muttered.

Kakashi looked at Naruto as he returned to his normal form. "He really is Sensei's son." He thought as he watched Naruto go up to Hinata and kiss her cheek.

"So then. . ." Naruto then looked back at the dragon. "What are we gonna do about her?"

"Her?" Sakura and Ino asked, glancing between Naruto and the dragon.

"This is Maleficent." Xion bluntly said as everyone's eyes widen, though the Committee, Shino, and Sai either weren't surprised or stayed passive.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Kiba yelled as he pointed at the dragon. "That's the witch!?"

"Yeah, real pain in the ass too," Naruto muttered. "Almost tried to barbecue us back at the castle."

"And here I thought it was the overpowered ball-less wonder." Sai said, earning him a punch in the face from Naruto, a kick in the nuts from Sakura and a double-Thundaga from Hinata and Xion.

Kakashi palmed his face. "He brought that onto himself. . ." He then shook his head in shame.

"The kid is right though," Cid said as he looked at the dragon. "What are we gonna do about this witch?"

Choji's stomach started to growl as Shikamaru, also, palmed his face. "Troublesome. No Choji, you're not eating a dragon." Shikamaru bluntly said.

"I didn't even ask though." Choji responded, a little insulted. His eyes did glance curiously back at the dragon, though.

At that moment, Maleficent's unconscious dragon form burst into green flames.


	48. Chapter 48

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 48: Break Time!

At the burst of green flames, some of the group stepped back, but everyone tensed, thinking that the witch-turned-dragon was going to get back up. But after a few moments, as the fires continued to burn and nothing happened, they began to relax. The group watched as Maleficent's dragon form burned until there wasn't anything left; not even embers or charcoal dust.

"It's finally over. . ." Leon muttered.

"Indeed," Red XIII said as Kakashi nodded his head in agreement.

"Thank goodness," Aerith said, a hand to her chest in relief.

"Woohoo!" Yuffie shouted jubilantly, making some of the group turn to her with wide eyes, startled from their individual thoughts.

"Yeah!" Snow agreed, a grin on his lips. "For a second there, I thought she was gonna get back up again. But you guys really pulled it off and finished her for good!"

Naruto felt himself swell with pride. "Heh, thanks" he smirked. "I knew that we coul-! Hey!" he suddenly yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the other blonde. "What're you saying? That we couldn't have beat her?!"

"Well, yeah," Snow confirmed with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "Sora beat her dragon form too and she still came back. From what I've heard of his second journey, Maleficent sacrificed herself to make sure that Sora and his friends wouldn't be hindered by a whole hoard of heartless in defeating Organization XIII," he explained.

"But as you saw," Leon interrupted before an argument could begin between the two. "The heartless didn't defeat her. Instead, she took control of them and began rebuilding her dark army."

"Which we stopped," Xion added in. "Pete's gone too. Right, Naruto?" she asked, turning to the Nine-Tail Fox container. She sweatdropped when she noticed that he was having a glaring contest with Snow.

"Naruto?" she asked again. No response.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked, trying to get his attention. He didn't look away nor did he give any sign of acknowledgement. She sweatdropped at how intent her boyfriend was.

"Snow, stop it," Aerith tried, but the brawler didn't look away either.

Sakura rolled her eyes, starting to walk over to them. "Ugh," she grumbled, hands clenching into fists as she neared the two. "Honestly..." With that she raised both of her fists, one aimed for each of them.

"BAKA!" she shouted angrily, pounding the tops of their heads with her fists. Everyone winced and the Committee members looked a little worried as well.

"Ow!" Naruto and Snow yelled, their glaring contest abruptly and harshly ended with no clear winner. They held their heads in pain, trying to soothe the poor lump that had formed.

"What was that for, Sakura?!" Naruto yelled, irritated and glaring at his pink-haired (and sometimes very scary) teammate.

"Naruto, you idiot! You should have listened when you're being asked a question!" Sakura reprimanded, a hand on her hip and her face fierce and annoyed by his immaturity.

Fortunately, the two teammates' yelling was loud enough to cover Snow's own voice as he muttered a few curse words, a gloved hand rubbing his aching head.

"Snow!" Unfortunately, Aerith, being the motherly person that she was, was able to hear these explicit curses and she came up to heal his head while scolding him as well.

Shikarmaru sighed, a hand in his pocket. "Troublesome," he muttered, lifting his head to look at the clouds in the sky. Everyone was sweat-dropping at the comical scene, though some like Shino and Leon hid it well.

"Anyways!" Xion yelled, catching everyone's attention and stopping anymore future arguments and mishaps. "Naruto, is Pete gone?" she repeated her earlier question.

"Of course!" Naruto confirmed, giving her a thumbs up. "That fat tub of lard was barely able to touch me, even!"

"That's great news!" Ino said. "Now, this world can't be overrun anymore!"

"Well. . . " Naruto trailed off hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. Everyone turned back to him, eyes curious and some narrowed in suspicion. "I sorta just left him tied up in the room we fought in," he confessed.

"Naruto!" Sakura growled.

"Hey hey!" Naruto objected, hands up in a pacifying gesture. "He was unconscious after I was through with him! And remember, I left him all tied up. He couldn't escape that even if he woke back up" he defended himself.

"Alright," Leon said, gaining everyone's attention. "I'll send some people to go and fetch him. We'll have him locked up so he wouldn't be able to go anywhere and I'll also send word to King Mickey about what happened here. Pete was originally from his world, so it's best that they properly put him to justice." he explained.

"In the meantime," Aerith said, coming up after healing Snow's bruise. "You should all rest and relax for a while. Healing magic and your healing jutsus," she nodded to Sakura and Ino, whom both smiled back. "As well as potions and ethers, can only do so much. The body still needs to rest after having gone through that much stress."

"Yeah!" Yuffie agreed. "I can even show you guys some of the best places we've got here! Think of it as a Grande Tour of Radiant Garden!" she said excitedly.

"Sweet! I've been wanting a proper tour since we got here, but we couldn't cause of the war going on and fighting those data members of Organization XIII." Naruto said as he then turned to Hinata and smiled. "Actually this would be perfect time for a date." He thought as he blushed a little. Hinata smiled in return, though she did give him a curious look for his blush.

"Alright, time for me to check out this world's weapon shop!" Tenten eagerly said with stars in her eyes.

"But Tenten, you still have the Organization weapons from before." Shino reminded her. "And since we're not done finishing all the Organization's members, yet, you're going to get some more."

"So?" Tenten deadpanned, causing everyone to sweat-drop. "I want me a gunblade!"

"Nevermind," Shino muttered as he palmed his face.

"YOSH!" Lee blurted out as he turned to Snow. "SNOW, MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND, I MUST SPAR WITH YOU TO SEE WHO IS THE BEST MARTIAL ARTIST OF BOTH OF OUR WORLDS!"

Snow gave him a cocky smile and cracked his knuckles. "Why not? I could use a good spar," he responded.

"Lee, don't you dare use the gates during the spar!" Sakura warned.

"And don't use any magic, Snow." Aerith added with a meaningful look.

"Alright, alright," Snow and Lee said in semi-unison.

"Do not worry, my youthful cherry blossom," Lee declared, ignoring Sakura's wince at his affections. "THIS WILL BE A MOST YOUTHFUL AND FRIENDLY SPARRING MATCH!"

Kakashi, on the other hand, disappeared from everyone's sight as he took out a scroll. "Time to fulfill Lord Jiraiya's mission," he said as he giggled pervertedly.

Turning away from the puff of white smoke, Aerith then noticed something on Sakura's gloves and Ino's sash. "Hmm? You girls never told me you had slots for Materia."

"Materia?" Sakura and Ino asked, giving her a confused look.

Aerith nodded. "Yes. Placing them in the slots of certain accessories or armor allows the wearer to use magic and other abilities. If we go to a Materia shop, I can explain further," Aerith offered.

Sakura and Ino looked at each other. They turned back to the magic user and nodded with smiles, eager to be able to use magic. Aerith smiled kindly and led them down the street, the two girls following behind.

"Hmm..." Choji contemplated, munching on his chips. Shikamaru looked away from the clouds to raise an eyebrow at his teammate. "I think I'm going to try out the food they have here. I might even ask for their recipes to share with the rest of the clan!" he decided before turning to the lazy genius. "Wanna come with?"

"Nah," Shikamaru answered with a lazy shrug. "I want to find a nice spot for cloud watching and a nap. I might come and join you later, though."

"Sure!" Choji agreed.

Shino suddenly started sending out his bugs again. They flew out in small swarms, not too vulnerable a size, but also not too big that'll terrify the residents and call out a bug-infestation.

"Shino, what are you doing?" Kiba asked, seeing some of the bugs fly away.

"All I'm doing is breeding more insects," Shino plainly explained. "I'll need to make some that are resistant to darkness."

Kiba sweat-dropped along with Akamaru. "I'll leave you to it then." He then started to stretch his limbs. "Now, what to do?" With Akamaru loyally at his side, the two started to wander off in search of something to do.

"Come on, Tenten," Yuffie said to the bun-haired weapons expert. "I'll show you the Weapons shop around here. The triplets might even have a sale today." With that, she headed down a street, Tenten following enthusiastically behind.

"Hmm. . . That dark castle looked interesting from the Bailey. . ." Sai thought as he wordlessly began to walk down another street. "It'll make a good addition in the sketchbook, though probably not as good as that Kingdom Hearts moon from when we fought Saïx."

"Hmm. . ." Xion said, a finger to her chin and facing the sky in contemplation.

"What's on your mind, Xion?" Hinata asked.

"Eh, I'm trying to think of something to do during this break," she replied, looking away from the clouds to give her fellow keyblade bearer a shrug.

"Oh. Hmm. . . Wanna come with us?" Hinata offered, not noticing Naruto worried glance at how his chances of a date with just him and his girlfriend were slipping away. "We can probably come up with something together."

"Ah, no thanks," Xion said with a sheepish smile, having noticed Naruto's look. "Besides," Here, she lowered her voice and whispered to Hinata. "Isn't this a great opportunity to spend some quality time with your boyfriend?"

Hinata blushed but her pale eyes did brighten up at the prospect.

Pulling back with a successful smile, Xion said, "Alright, see you guys later." She turned to another street.

"Nanaki," Leon said to the quadruped next to him. "Think you can gather a team to go and get Pete? Oh, and try to see if you can find Maleficent's cloak. If you do find it, bring it here and we'll try and destroy it."

Nanaki nodded. "Right. The restoration would be to waste if she came back," he agreed. With that, he ran off.

As everyone began to go their separate ways, Cid called out, "Hey, wait a minute, folks!"

They all paused and looked back at him, most giving him questioning looks.

"You kids are forgetting something," Cid said.

"And what would that be?" Hinata said, a curious look in her eyes.

"Munny," Leon answered, arms crossed.

Xion suddenly bonked her head in realization. "Oh that's right!" she exclaimed. "I knew I forgot something before we came here."

Turning to the rest of her friends, she gave them all a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry about that, guys," she lamented. "I forgot that the currencies between the two worlds are completely different. If you guys are going to buy anything, you're going to need this world's currency since they won't take yen," she explained.

Xion looked to Leon and Cid, a hopeful glint in here blue eyes. "Cid do you think you can convert yen to Munny for the time being? Or at least loan some to them. I've only got 2000 from all those Heartless," she asked in a pleading tone.

Cid and Leon looked to each other before looking back to the ex-Organization member. "Well. . . " Cid responded, a hand to his chin in thought. "While I can't really convert them since we're not on a trade system with their world, we can probably lend a few thousand for the whole lot from our savings."

"It's the least we can do for helping us," Leon agreed.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed. "Heh," he thought bashfully. "Didn't think of that. How could I bring Hinata on a date if I don't have any of this munny for it?" He heard the Fox snickering in the back of mind, but he chose to ignore it.

"Come on, you lot," Cid told them, walking back to HQ. "We'll divide some of the Munny in headquarters and we can even put your yen in the safe for security, if you wanna. We can't give you a whole lot 'cause we still need some for the reconstruction, but I'll see how much we can lend."

"Wait a minute," Hinata said, a thought suddenly coming up in her head. "What about the others like Sakura, Ino, and Tenten? We should bring them some, too, since they're going to the shops."

"Aerith and Yuffie can cover for them," Leon explained. "Now, come on."

Everyone followed inside and some of the Munny was distributed. Xion gave Naruto some of her own Munny, winking and whispering a good luck for his date. Naruto blushed a bit in embarrassment, but thanked her and gave her a thumbs up. With that, everyone left on their separate ways.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Hinata were wondering around as they were enjoying each other's company. Around them, some buildings were being repaired after being destroyed by heartless.<p>

"Man that was one crazy war," Naruto commented. "Especially that battle with Maleficent."

Hinata nodded in agreement. "It was, but it did show something for all of us."

"What do you mean?"

"We all have grown stronger in different ways. Remember when we first got here?"

Naruto chuckled a little as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, we were barely able to hold off normal Shadow heartless. And now. . ."

"We were able to stop the heartless from overrunning this world and hurting everyone," Hinata finished with a smile.

Naruto smiled back at her. "You're really cute when you smile."

Hinata then giggled a little. "Why, thank you," she said, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

* * *

><p>Aerith was good friends with the store owners and they left the Materia cabinets unlocked so she can give the two girls behind her a proper explanation and a closer look. When the store owners heard that they helped with taking out the heartless army, they even provided a discount.<p>

The Materia in question were all different sizes, ranging from being the size of a marble to nearly a tennis ball. There were five basic colors with many shades in-between. They all seemed to give off a faint glow that reminded the kunoichi of chakra when it was released subtly.

As Aerith was placing the colorful spheres carefully on the counter's tablecloth, she explained, "Materia is condensed, crystallized Mako. Mako is the essence of a world in liquid form. Because the essence of a world is made up of light and dark, so can the Materia. Materia can be made naturally, like how the crystals in the canyon are formed, but these 'Mako Springs' are hard to come by and, like other natural minerals, take a very long time to form. They are more powerful than these artificially-formed ones, though."

She began to organize the Materia into simple groups, mostly by color. "There are five basic types of Materia and they each grant a certain ability. Magic, Command, Support, Summon, and Independent; green, yellow, blue, red, and purple, respectively," she further explained pointing to the indicated groups of each type. "Each one gives a different ability to whoever wears them. However, some of them also affect your own strengths and stats, like your speed, by either enhancing them or reducing it."

Picking up a pale yellow sphere, she said, "Command Materia allow you to perform a move that you probably wouldn't have been able to do before. This is a Manipulate Materia, it allows you to briefly take control of your opponent's movements, though it'll take your concentration and you can only use it on a single person and when they've already been weakened."

Placing the Materia down, she then picked up one of the few red spheres that were there, "Summon Materia are really hard to come by. We only have one, Phoenix, and it's only used in extreme emergencies. This is because they allow you to summon a creature that'll team up with you and aid you. So far, Cid has been the only to have been able to use the Phoenix summon and it was only when the Heartless first overtook our world."

Here, she took on a sad look before she shook it off and continued, "Anyways, these also take up a lot of your energy. This one summons a Chocobo and its partner moogle."

"This one," she said as she picked up a light purple one after placing the summon Materia down. "Is an Independent type of Materia. They all vary in abilities and aren't really categorized into the others. This one is called Enemy Away and acts like a repel for monsters, though it's weaker against Heartless and Nobodies. This other one here," she indicated with a wave of her hand to a dark purple one. "Is called Speed Plus and, like its name suggests, gives you a boost in your speed." With that, she put them back down.

"The blue ones," she said next, "Are Support Materia. Theses allow you to link the Materia you have equipped with your weapon or armor and each other. This one, Added Effect, adds a chosen status to your weapon(s), giving you a chance to inflict that status to your foe with every hit. It also makes you resistant to the same chosen status if you equip it to your armor."

"I know you'll love these ones," she said with a smile as she indicated to the largest pile on the counter, full of green Materia of different shades. "These are Magic Materia. They let you use all sorts of spells; Black and White and Status-inducing. The one you saw me use to erect that shield was a Barrier Materia, a White spell," she said, pointing to a yellow-green sphere.

Pointing to a dark green one, she expained, "Black spells include Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder, like you've seen Xion and Hinata use, though they trained to be able to use those attacks without having to equip Materia."

Next pointing to a light green sphere, "I think you'll mostly be interested in these kinds since they heal yourself and others. Be careful, though. Magic Materia are the most draining and are the most likely to affect your strength and other stats."

Sakura and Ino listened intently and, noticing that she was finished, the blonde ninja asked, "Aerith, what's with the different sizes, anyways?"

"Oh. Well, if you continue to use a Materia, it can grow and become stronger in its effects," the mage explained. "Except for Summon and Support, Materia can 'level up' so to speak with continued usage until it reaches a Master level, where it can't level up anymore. The spheres increase in size as a result, but when they are about to be equipped or already are, they shrink to fit the slot size."

Aerith paused and glanced up to the ceiling in contemplation before looking back to her current charges. "I think that the both of you should start with the low-level Materia first so that you can adjust to using them. The higher leveled ones are harder to control unless you've used them already," she explained, to which both girls nodded.

"Now, girls," she finished with a kind smile and a small wave to the assorted Materia. "Why don't you have a look and pick the ones you want? It'll be my treat. If you want to find out which one does what, you can use these," she said and indicated the color-coded charts near the register.

With that, Sakura and Ino eagerly set to browsing through the wares.

"Find any that you like?" Aerith asked after a while.

"I would like a Restore, Heal, Revive and Barrier Materia." Sakura said, remembering what Aerith used during the Heartless war. She looked back at her gloves as they both had slots for three Materia each.

'Maybe I should get an offensive one as well. No good being useless if you've run out of magic and chakra,' she thought as she continued looking. 'The Earth one can help with my aim since my regular chakra punches almost always go all over the place and I don't want to harm my friends. Aerith said that Added Effect can help with resistance and some of those Heartless cast poison or sleep spells.'

Her decision made, she looked back to the mage. "I'll also take the Earth and Added Effect Materia, if you don't mind, "she said.

"Not at all," Aerith replied with a kind smile. She separated the requested Materia and began to place the others back into their containers.

Ino looked uncertain, biting her lip as she looked through the charts. Her sash was only able to hold three Materia, limiting the amount of abilities she could add to her arsenal. She looked back up to Aerith as she placed the extra Earth Materia away. "I know I want the Cure and Esuna, but I want a Materia that will stand me out from Sakura. We both may be Medical Ninjas, but still…" Ino explained.

"Well then Ino, what else are you good at? Aerith asked.

"Well. . . Poison. Is that a Materia?" Ino asked.

"Yes it is. Let me show you to it," Aerith answered as she guided Ino to it.

* * *

><p>"Wow!" Tenten exclaimed as she and Yuffie entered the Weapons shop. Her eyes sparkled at all the shiny weapons, most of them new and unused.<p>

Yuffie giggled next to her at the weapon expert's enthusiasm. "Hey Huey, Dewey, Louie!" she greeted with a wave at the duckling triplets behind the counter. They each wore a simple sweater and matching baseball cap, but in different colors to differentiate between the three; red, blue, and green.

"Heya Yuffie!" they greeted in perfect unison.

"Who's your new friend?" the one in red asked.

"This is-" Yuffie turned to show the girl to the little ducklings, but when she looked, the other ninja was missing. She quickly found her admiring and inspecting a sword rack. She sweatdropped at the sight before turning back to the triplets. "That's Tenten. She's a weapons expert and we wanted to check in the shop's wares. She'll probably buy quite a few, but thankfully that war with the heartless outside the walls pulled in a good amount of Munny."

"That's great!" the one in blue exclaimed happily. "Cause we've got a sale going on right now."

"Only for today, though," the one in green reminded them. "So make sure you don't take too long!"

"Sure thing, boys," Yuffie promised, giving them a grin and a thumbs up. She turned and went to help Tenten, who had already moved onto display case full of grenades, bombs, and other exploding gadgets, and also to make sure that Tenten didn't make a mess with her drool.

* * *

><p>Somewhere else, Kakashi was on a roof with the scroll.<p>

"Lord Jiraiya better give me a decent pay. Although. . ." He undid the seal to reveal a large box. "Now another world can enjoy the wonders of Icha Icha!" He pervertly giggled again as he went to find a bookstore.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in the rest of world. . . .<p>

Naruto and Hinata were hanging out around town, finding someplace to eat. They avoided any fancy ones they found not only because of how expensive they were when they took a peek at the menu, but also because Hinata was modest and didn't really want too fancy a date.

On one of the roofs in the Borough, Shikamaru was watching the clouds pass by, though they were few and misty. He kept watching them until he eventually fell asleep.

Nearby and below, Choji was enjoying a rather tasty meal from the local bakery. The owner was only too happy to feed the hungry shinobi.  
>Shino had taken to meditating on the roof of Merlin's house as he waited for his bugs to return after breeding. His legs were folded underneath him and his head was bowed slightly.<p>

Kiba and Akamaru were still wandering around town, not realizing that a little blue creature was following him. Although, they did stop every now and then because some of the children wanted to play with Akamaru, who didn't mind in the least.

* * *

><p>Xion walked through the city until she came across the Postern. She paused and looked across the platform and over the ledge to the houses below. The wind blew delicately up here, but at least it wasn't cold.<p>

A puff of steam close to her head interrupted her thoughts, startling her a bit. Turning, she noticed that around the big copper pipe to her left, there was a narrow alleyway that dipped below, the rest of it covered in shadows.

Looking at it closely from where she was, Xion suddenly had a flashback from Sora's memories; there was a door down there and it led the Ansem the Wise's study. But more importantly, it led to his private computer.

"I wonder if his computer has anything about Terra, Aqua, and Ven. Or even Master Xehanort," she thought, walking towards the alleyway. "Or even why some members of Organization XIII are coming back in that other computer." She carefully descended down the large, uneven steps and briskly walked through the door, entering the Corridors.

Calling on Sora's memories of this place, she navigated her way through the hallways. Her footsteps echoed against the walls, louder than the rumbling of the pipes and the hum of the lights, creeping her out a little.

She eventually made her way down a side hallway that was brighter and cleaner than the others, pipes absent from the walls. It ended in a decorated door, slightly ajar. Xion paid no mind, however, thinking that one of the Committee members was here recently and simply forgot.

Opening it fully and passing through, she found herself in a large, round room. It was quite messy, books and papers on the floor and writings on the wall. To the side, there was a giant, rectangular hole in the wall that led to a dark blue hallway; a stark contrast from the warmer and rustier walls of the study.

Xion remembered through Sora that there was a picture of Ansem's apprentice, Xehanort, near the scientific lettering, but right now it was gone. She noticed that the broken glass containers were also missing and that the room had been cleaned somewhat.

Again, she shrugged it off, thinking that Aerith or some other Committee members had begun to clean this place up. She walked through the room, avoiding any other debris and even picking a book or two up and placing them on the crescent-shaped desk in the middle of the room. Soon, she found herself on the walkway surrounded by blue steel, the Heartless Manufactory ahead and below.

Xion gave a small shudder at the thought of the sheer number of Heartless that were electronically produced here. It was a wonder that Sora and his friends were able to defeat them all.

The computer room was the same as ever, though the glass window behind the computer looked a lot cleaner. Going to the keyboard, she pressed a few keys, opening up files and checking through them.

"Hello there," a voice suddenly sounded, startling Xion and making her jump.

Looking around, she asked out loud, "Who's there?" Her fingers twitched, ready to summon a keyblade should the voice turn out to be hostile.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the voice apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you. But this is a restricted area; only authorized personnel are allowed here. I must ask you leave, please."

"Uh. . ." Xion looked around nervously, trying to find the source of the mysterious voice, which sounded electronic and full of static. "I'm sorry, too, for being here. I just wanted to check on some stuff. But, uh...Where are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I forgot. I'm Tron, MCP of this network," the voice, now identified as Tron, replied.

"Tron?" Xion muttered as she tried to recall where she had heard that familiar name before. Her eyes brightened when she saw a memory of Sora wearing weird, blue and digital armor and fighting alongside a human-looking program in a blacklight-happy digital world.

"Tron?" Xion repeated, looking up and noticing the speakers in the corners of the room. "As in, the same Tron that Sora helped out to derez the previous MCP?" she asked.

"Yes, that's it. You know Sora?" Tron asked curiously.

Xion nodded her head, though she doubted that the program could see it. "Yeah, I know him," she answered. "I'm Xion."

"Hello there, User Xion," Tron greeted. "Are you a friend of Sora's then?"

"Er. . ." Xion was hesitant, knowing that the both of them hadn't actually met in person. "Sort of. We haven't really seen each other in a long time. I also know the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee."

"Alright then," Tron said. "A friend of Sora's is a friend of mine. I see that you've pulled up some of the older files. Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah," Xion answered, going back to the keyboard. "I'm trying to find some information on some people from a long time ago. And some more information on Nobodies."

"I can do a scan if you like," Tron offered. "Cid and I were working on upgrading the Claymore program. It's progressing well so far."

"But what if the Heartless do come back? Even if they're just the usual variety, the citizens might still get hurt," Xion argued worriedly.

"It's fine," Tron said, trying to ease her worries. "I can spare a moment. What is it that you're looking for?"

Xion hesitated again before relenting with a sigh. "Any information about some Keyblade bearers named Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, or Ven for short. Also, anymore information about Nobodies and how they're formed," she replied.

"Alright. I'll pull up the information about the Nobodies first since they're the most recent. You can look through those while I scan through the database's history and storage," Tron said.

Seconds later, some files appeared on the screen and Xion leaned in to get a closer look. Most of the information regarded the types and abilities of the lesser Nobodies. There was information on Organization XIII, but those were mostly on who was who and what was their power and fighting capabilities. Not too useful since she knew these already, especially about the other members of Organization XIII, but she continued to scan through the files.

Soon, Xion came upon a journal entry. It read:

~'So far, our experiments have been going excellent. I and my fellow colleagues have made great progress in our research.

From our results, we have concluded that the stronger the heart, the stronger the heartless produced. There is also the alternative condition in that if the heart is already very dark, an even more powerful heartless is born.

We have also taken into account the byproducts of these transmutations. We have before concluded that if the subject were to have a strong will, the body left behind in the process of heart removal will act and behave on its own. The power and strength of what we have dubbed, 'Nobodies,' is also determined through the power of the heart. Unfortunately, there is inconclusive data on the effects of a dark heart upon its nobody as it varies from strong and familiar to weak and unrecognizable.

We have tried a simple experiment of placing the pieces back together. We have started with a simple Shadow heartless and a Dusk nobody. Results have shown that, though these two creatures were formed from the pieces of the same person, they will not hesitate to attack one another.

We moved down the line of power to see if appearance is a factor in this equation, as both Shadow and Dusk did not even remotely resemble their former being; their Somebody. The closer we got to familiarity between the two, the results have become varied with no clear pattern. Some have even begun to cooperate with their opposite, though it appears that the Nobodies are usually the most in control. Most of the time, there is a brief moment of peace between the two, but then they will begin to attack each other. However, we have noticed a slight pattern in which one it is that would attack first.

I theorize that the reason the Nobody is the one to attack its dark counterpart is because Nobodies, like Heartless, could sense the heart, though on a duller scale. Placed in the same area, the Nobody was able to recognize that the Heartless in front of it was the one with its former heart. In their desire to feel emotions once more, to exist, the Nobody will initiate the battle in order to get their heart back.

So what does happen to the Nobody of a dark heart? And of those that have managed to retain their former appearance, is there a way to reverse it and place back into the shell, the taken heart? And if such a reversal were to be possible, will the restored person retain the abilities granted from being split into both a being of nothing and a being of darkness?

The goal of these experiments was to see if the restored Somebody was able to retain the nobody's and heartless' ability to travel through portals of nothingness and doors of darkness. Once it has been confirmed as possible, I will try my hand, as the saying goes, and the process shall be done upon me and the rest of my colleagues. With that, we will be able to finally open the doors to endless possibilities and more information on my sole goal: Kingdom Hearts. The heart of all worlds.

Now, our research is at a standstill. My next proposed experiment has been denied by Ansem, so now I must initiate one of my back-up plans. If all goes well, the mysteries of Kingdom Hearts and the heart itself will be solved'~

Xion stepped back, eyes wide after reading the entry. There was no name, but she had a pretty good idea of who wrote it. A beep above her snapped her out of her thoughts.

Looking up, she noticed a password program appear on the screen. "User Xion," Tron stated. "I was able to find this from the history pile, but I am unable to access it without the password."

"Don't worry, Tron," Xion said, stepping up again. "What's the name of the program, anyways?" she asked.

"It says here, D2D program," Tron answered.

"Hmm. . ." Xion put a hand to her chin in thought. 'D2D. . .That sounds familiar. . . Perhaps it means something.' Closing her eyes, she called up some more of Sora's memories. 'It's not the DTD; Tron has access to that already. But there's something else,' she thought.

The answer came to her as she recalled the writing on the wall in Ansem's study. 'Of course! The DTD stood for Door to Darkness and, if you replace word, to, with the number 2, you practically get the same thing.'

Opening her eyes in realization, she began to type on the keyboard. "Now what was that old password, again?" she murmured.

"Do you know the password, User Xion?" Tron asked.

"Not really," she replied. "But I have an idea."

'I just hope it works,' she thought as she began to type in the seven-worded password.

Hitting the 'Confirm' key, she crossed her fingers and waited as the computer began to process it. A 'Ding!' sounded and some programs opened and initiated.

"It worked!" Tron exclaimed. "Hold on, I'll bring up the most recently used one."

A few seconds later, a file opened up on the screen. "Room of Sleep?" Xion read aloud, curiosity in her voice.

"I'm not exactly sure what it is," Tron confessed. "But it appears to lead to a chamber deep beneath the castle. The door to the stairway is in front of the Manufactory machine. I'll open it and leave it open, though. I have to go, Cid is starting the testing soon and he'll need my help," he explained, sounding a little disappointed.

"That's okay, Tron," she comforted, hoping to make the program feel better. "The town's safety is more important anyways."

"Alright," Tron relented. "I'll open the door now. If you need anymore help, feel free to contact Leon or Cid. I'm sure they'll want to know about this."

"Hmm..."

"Is something the matter?"

"I. . . don't really know," Xion said, a contemplative look on her face. "But. . . I have a feeling that whatever's down there. . . should be kept a secret."

"Oh? You don't want to tell Leon and the others?" Tron asked, confused.

"Yeah," Xion decided. "If it's not too much trouble, can you not tell them about this? I have a bad feeling that the more who know about this, the more dangerous things will get."

A pause.

". . . Alright," Tron relented. "But be careful down there, okay?"

Xion was already making her way out of the computer room. "Okay, Tron," she reassured the program. "And thanks for the help."

"You're welcome. See you soon!" A window popped up on the computer screen. It read, 'PROGRAM START.' Afterwards, the computer room went silent except for the hum of electricity.

When she reached the bottom level, Xion stepped up and onto the glowing mark on the ground. She didn't have to wait for long as a large rectangle flashed on the floor in front of her. A whirring sound filled the air as motors that haven't been used in a long time set to work and opened the door.

As the doors opened, Xion could see that there were no stairs that lead to the floor seen below. As she judged the distance from her level to the one below, the doors finished opening and there was another brief flash of light, startling her from her thoughts. Looking back, a slope downward to the room had appeared.

"Well, that's convenient," she thought as she carefully made her way down.

It was dark inside, but from what little light she had, she could see that she was on a platform that lead to a walkway and the room was circular. She went to the platform's edge and, looking over, saw that it spiraled down and down and down.

Xion gulped at the dark depths before her. 'I'd hate to find out how deep this thing goes the hard way,' she thought as she went to the walkway and began to make her way down, staying close to the wall. The pipes and cables glowed as light pulsed through them, too low to light up the room.

It took a long while, but she eventually made it to the bottom. "Geez, how deep did they need this room to be?" she complained, looking up at the distance.

Turning around she headed to the door, which opened automatically at a certain distance. She had to blink her eyes a few times at the stark contrast of light and darkness before stepping through the door. Inside was a hallway that, as far as she could tell, was full of open doors, their digital locks smashed and broken. The floor was tiled, but it was covered in numerous scratches.

She cautiously trekked through the hallway, muscles ready to leap away and summon her keyblades at a moment's notice.

At the first open door, she found that inside was what looked like a cell. A small bunk looked to be roughly shoved to the side and there was a small, upturned desk next to it, one of its legs snapped. Shredded pieces of what was probably the bed sheet littered the floor. Above, the ceiling lights were broken and nonfunctional. Looking closer, there were even more scratches on the walls, most of them deeper than the ones on the floor.

Seeing nothing else, Xion moved on, peeking into the cells and finding the same results. She was very thankful that the place was empty of even Heartless.

As she moved down the rows of cells, she noticed that the mess in the rooms seemed to be getting worse. A glance to her right and she saw that there was no door to that room. Looking into it, she found the door, but it appeared to have been pierced through and then thrown away, smashing the desk into pieces. The chains on the door were snapped and the bars on the window were broken. The walls had burn marks and instead of just scratches, there were gouges in the walls, deep and long. The bed laid in two pieces on one side. The room next to it had the same results, though instead of burn marks, this one was full of puddles of dark water.

Xion tread slowly now in the hallway. Some of the doors were out in the open, crushed and bent at odd angles. She even found pieces of some of the doors; their edges burnt and charred black.

She then came across a section of cells that looked to be intact, the doors closed and the tile smooth and shining like new. "I hope there's nothing in these ones. . ." she thought with a gulp before slowly inching her way to the first door on her left.

She peeked through the window, seeing past the prison bars and she squinted to make out anything in the dim lighting. It was empty. Inside, the bed looked untouched, the sheets neat and made. The desk was also still standing next to it. Dust layered everything in this room.

The other rooms in this part of the hallway were no different.

At the end of the hallway was a door similar to the one that led this hall, though a bit different. It was decorated with black chain-like markings on either side. As Xion stepped in front of it, it opened and inside was a round room, dimmer than the hallway. The walls were decorated in the Nobody symbols, large and black, and connecting to each one were the same chain-like markings as on the door. There were panels missing from the floor, showing the pipes and cables below.

In the middle of the circular room was a throne, three spikes decorating the top, back edge of the seat. All the chains lead to this throne, none of them twisting in curves and crisscrossing into each other, but more like branching off of one another.

Xion could only see the back of the throne, so she was curious to see what it looked like from the front. As she walked closer, she noticed something sticking out a ways in front of the throne. She cautiously stepped ever closer, using the throne as a cover in case it was an enemy. Peeking out from behind it, she gasped, blue eyes widening into saucers.

"Aqua. . .?" her voice barely a whisper.

* * *

><p>"Gah!" Snow yelled as he hit the wall. That was probably the third or fourth time his body had left a small dent in the hard wall of blue stone. Luckily not all the body-shaped dents were his.<p>

Earlier, Snow led Lee to a place where they can spar without worry of hurting others or damaging property. They were in a section of the long and winding Ravine Trail, set in front of the castle. It was a safe enough place so long as they don't cause the walls to crash down and create a blockade. Snow wanted to go to the Great Maw, where the majority of the heartless were during the war, but Leon had told him that there may still be Heartless out there and besides, if the heartless decided to come in through the Ravine, they could stop them before they reached the residential areas.

In any case, he and Lee were having their little sparring match here in the Ravine. So far, no major damages have been made, though his aching back would beg to differ. Just a few minutes in and Snow realized that Lee was fast. Very fast.

Lee charged towards him as he was getting back up, aiming to kick him in the gut, but Snow saw that coming and quickly slipped out of the way. As the boy with the weird eyebrows left another dent in the wall with his foot, Snow took this opportunity to hook Lee's ankle with his own foot, a fist rising at his side.

Unable to stop his momentum, Lee spun into the dirt, face first. He didn't just lie there, though, and quickly rolled out of the way of the man's punch, which kicked up dust. Lee leaped away, giving the both of them distance for a small respite.

"You're pretty good," Snow complimented, back aching from having smacked into the wall.

"You, as well, my youthful opponent!" Lee yelled happily as he ignored the pain on his forehead, courtesy of landing on the hard dirt, or his sore foot.

They both sported bruises and they were both panting in exhaustion. Lee was fast and nimble, but Snow proved himself to be very difficult to defeat, having stayed standing up even after one of Lee's 'Konoha Senpuu' kicks. To anyone that knew him, Snow was like a tank, defensive yet very powerful when attacking.

He had to resist the urge to use his magic, especially his ice attacks in order to freeze the ground and make the shinobi slip, but he was a promise keeper and he had promised Aerith not to use magic. Lee also had to resist the urge to open a gate or two as when Snow managed to get a hit in, it hurt. He was definitely going to feel the blows to his ribs tomorrow and the rest of the day, even with Sakura's help.

At the thought of Sakura, his beautiful and youthful cherry blossom, he nearly lost himself to his imaginings, a lovesick grin working its way onto his lips. He quickly shook his head to dislodge those thoughts, however. He couldn't get distracted. He had to remain focused if he wanted to win; even if this was just a spar.

Across from him, Snow raised an eyebrow at the boy's behavior, but Lee just gave him a half-smirk, half-smile and shifted back into his battle stance. Though still confused, he smirked and also re-positioned himself into his own battle stance, fists raised and feet planted.

A few seconds later, the two hand-to-hand combatants leapt at each other and the match resumed.

* * *

><p>Back in Merlin's house, Cid was at his computer, typing like usual. So far, the test for his Claymore system had proven successful, though the reaction time needed some work. He decided to have Tron work on that and instead turned to other matters.<p>

"Gotta hand it to those guys; they really helped out here," he said, toothpick between his lips once more.

He finished typing and hit the 'Enter' button, turning towards a small machine nearby. Getting up, he walked closer as a small light lit yellow before the contraption rumbled for a while. Another light flashed green and a piece of hard paper popped out of a slit to the side. Cid grabbed it and, after inspecting it, placed it with others like it on the nearby desk.

They were membership cards to the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, HBRC for short. It was violet with the picture of the castle of Radiant Garden in gold, and the acronym of the Committee in large, sky blue font below. The back was a fading purple reminiscent of the sunset, featuring a faded representation of the castle and the organization's name printed out in full and in white. 'Honorary Member' was above a white box, where a name was to be placed.

The similarities stopped there. In the white blanks were different names for each one; the names of the shinobi who helped them out.

* * *

><p>Nanaki cautiously looked around the corner of the cliff wall at the edge of the Great Maw. Finding nothing, he stepped out and dashed to the entrance to the dark castle, Villain's Vale.<p>

A coil of strong rope dangled from his jaws, given to him by Cid who said that it was enchanted with some magic that'll reduce the weight of whatever it's wrapped around. In this case, whomever.

Just as he was about to step inside dark castle, there was a sparkly flash nearby. Nanaki immediately tensed up, dropping the rope to land with a 'thud' and preparing his hind legs to pounce.

Before he could, however, a voice yelled out, "There you are!" It was cheery and a bit hyper. It was also familiar. Nanaki relaxed a little bit, but narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

The light dimmed to sparkles and in its place were three little people with wings, each one different from the other. They weren't the three good fairies that assisted Master Yen Sid, he wasn't even sure these three were fairies at all. One was blonde with bright blue eyes, an outfit that was similar to Yuffie's first one, and phoenix-like wings tipping the ends of a long scarf. The other was considerably darker with her black clothes, crimson eyes, grey-blonde hair, and bat-like wings. The middle one, looking more modest with her blue half-skirt and light clothing, was rather unique; underneath the bangs of her brown hair was one green eye and the other blue. Gold-tinted angel wings sprouted from a long, bound ponytail.

"Rikku, Paine, Yuna," Nanaki greeted, nodding to each one respectively.

"Hey Red!" the blonde one, Rikku, waved enthusiastically at the quadruped as they floated closer.

"Sorry for bothering you, Nanaki," Yuna, the one with the dual-colored eyes, apologized, bowing for good measure. "But we heard that Maleficent was defeated and that her castle's free of Heartless. So we decided-"

"To tag along and find any treasure in here!" Rikku interrupted with an excited grin.

"Assuming it all hasn't been snatched up by Sora and that new group," the quiet one in black, Paine, reminded them. "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm here to retrieve Maleficent's henchman, Pete," he replied. "Cid equipped me with this to make the job easier," he said after seeing their disbelieving looks, indicating the rope next to him with a paw.

"So you don't mind?" Yuna asked.

Nanaki shook his head, "No, not really. It would do good for some company, though, as I head towards the room he's knocked out in," he answered.

"Stay close when you can, though," the red-furred animal cautioned them as they went through the dark castle's gate. "We might meet some leftover heartless or if Pete managed to free himself."

Over the next hour or so, they trekked through the hallways, the Gullwings flying off in separate directions on occasion to find some treasure. Nanaki used his strong sense of smell to lead them to the same room that Pete and Naruto fought in. The villain in question was apparently awake, if his muffled curses and restrained motions as he struggled against the ropes keeping him tied on the floor were any indication. He stopped and looked up in horror once the ragtag group entered the room, however.

Pete froze in dread as Nanaki padded closer and he sheepishly smiled, or at least tried to around the gag covering his big mouth, at the quadruped. Luckily for Nanaki and unfortunately for Pete, the loop for the rope had already been done and all the HBRC member had to do was throw the loop over and around the henchman.

A toss of his head sent the looped end of the rope flying. Too bad that with Pete down on the floor, the rope fell short and landed itself around one of the villain's shoulders and over his head. Pete scrambled to get loose, to get away, but before he could do so much as pull a muscle, he heard the sound of guns cocking next to one of his ears. Glancing to his right, he found the brunette pixie on his shoulder, a mischievous glint in her eyes and a slight smirk on her face as she aimed both of her tiny guns right in the inside of his ear. The thought of a bullet, no matter how small, soaring right into his head made him freeze again.

Nanaki nodded gratefully to Yuna, who smiled back. Rope in his jaws, he pulled and the noose tightened around the portly villain. A grunt and he forcefully pulled Pete onto his back. Finding that, with the enchanted rope, Pete didn't weigh as much as he thought, about as much as a young deer, the red-furred quadruped began to drag Pete out of the room.

"We'll catch up to you later," Paine called afterwards.

"Yeah, we haven't explored everything here, yet!" Rikku explained cheerfully. "There might still be more treasure around here!"

"And don't worry about us," Yuna said, seeing Nanaki's worried glance back at them. "We haven't met any Heartless or Nobodies so far. And besides, we can take care of ourselves."

Nanaki gave them a long look before nodding and turning back to the task at hand. Leaving the Gullwings behind, he began to drag Pete back to Headquarters, ignoring the fat feline's grunts and worried whines as he did so.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Hinata found a small restaurant where they enjoyed a nice meal. The food of this world tasted a bit different, but it was delicious and not too cheap. They both had some fun small talk as they ate. After they finished, they left to find something else to do.<p>

"I'm really enjoying myself today Naruto." Hinata said as she cuddled into his arm.

"Me too, Hinata." Naruto said as he smiled down at her.

They were situated on a rooftop overlooking the rest of the town. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze. A few clouds whisked through the air above and the sky was colored in orange, pink, and purple hues.

Before Naruto could look back up to see that same horizon, Hinata opened her eyes and tilted her head to look up at him. Their eyes, bright blue and polished pearl, locked.

"Naruto. . ."

"Hinata. . ."

Their heads leaned in as their lips closed into each other. The kiss that followed may not have been different than the ones before, but neither minded as it still sent a wonderful sensation of love down their spines.

* * *

><p>"These weapons are so cool!" Tenten exclaimed as she was given a free demonstration of the grenades in the test yard behind the weapons shop. "These are more effective than our paper bombs."<p>

Yuffie chuckled a little at the weapon crazed girl. "Glad you like them. So, what are you gonna get?"

"I'm gonna get one of everything!" Tenten answered enthusiastically, a slightly manic smile on her lips. However, before she could grab any of the other assorted weapons, she caught Yuffie's worried glance at her pockets and remembered that it was the black-haired teen that was going to pay for all of this.

Biting her lip, she turned to the other ninja, "But only if it's okay with you. Some of these look kinda expensive anyways."

Yuffie nearly sighed in relief but held it in and instead gave a grateful smile to the weapon fanatic. "Okay, come on then. I'll show which ones are cheap, but still effective."

With that, she lead Tenten around the shop to the more cheaper items. While they weren't high-end like the ones they first saw, they still proved to be useful and powerful. After deciding which ones they were gonna take, they made their purchases and she stored them in a weapon scroll.  
>Included were: a handheld grappling device called a Hookshot, a willow bow that shot elemental arrows (limited by the amount of normal arrows in your quiver and your magical energy), twin scimitars with a sapphire encrusted in one of them and a ruby in the other, a pair of gloves called the Maverick made of black leather with metal plates on the knuckles, a red whip that ended in a gold colored, diamond-shaped ornament called the Red Scorpion, a mace that could send out its needles like homing projectiles with a push of a button, a machine gun that could shoot bullets made out of chakra if the actual bullets ran out, and a sleek red dagger aptly named the Assassin's Dagger. Her favorite choice, though, would be her own gunblade, called the Axis Blade. It was colored a light bronze, almost gold, and sleek black.<p>

She considered about getting a wand called the Star Rod, which could shoot projectiles of light or chakra, but decided that it was just too sparkly for her tastes. The grenades, while more effective than paper bombs, were surprisingly expensive. She decided not to get those either.

Thankfully, they managed to have some leftover Munny for later. Yuffie then lead Tenten to the accessory shop nearby after giving their thanks to the three ducklings, who were glad for the profit and hoped that they come back soon.

The small bell above rang as they passed through the door to the accessory shop.

"Hey-" Yuffie began to say but was interrupted by a blue and white blur that nearly tackled her off her feet. TenTen froze in surprise next to her.

"Yuffie! Save me, I'm bored!" the blur, which turned out to be a boy, cried out.

"Nathan, get off!" Yuffie yelled, a little embarrassed.

The boy soon let go and stepped back. Now they could see that he looked to be a few years younger than TenTen, with bright, ocean blue eyes. He wore a blue cap backwards and sticking out of the opening was a jagged lock of dark blue-green hair that reminded her of a dragon's fang. He had on a blue and white hoodie (with dark blue markings on the ends of the sleeves) and khaki cargo shorts with a blue bubble pattern on the edges. His blue and white sneakers sometimes squeaked on the floor as he shuffled his feet.

"Fine then, reject my affections. I can just love me-self. So what're you doin' here, Yuffie?" Nathan asked, head tilted curiously. "I'd a thought that you'd be out there fixin' up any damage those Heartless dished out."

"Or she could just be here to buy stuff with her new friend," a deep and gruff voice sounded behind the boy. Looking over, Tenten saw a teen sitting behind the cash register, feet crossed on the counter.

He looked older than Nathan and had leaf green hair, part of it hanging in front of one of his eyes. It was highlighted with black that looked like veins, making that part look like a big, drooping leaf. He wore a long, green scarf that covered his chin and some of his mouth, the two loose ends hanging behind him to mimic a cape or something. Over a dark purple, almost black, long-sleeved shirt was a dark green sweater. He had baggy blue-green jeans and a pair of dark brown shoes. Almost like Cid, a twig was set in his lips, a single, surprisingly large and healthy leaf hanging onto it.

The uncovered eye was a dark green and seemed to stare right into her very being. It was unnerving; especially combined with his blank face.

"Oh?" Nathan finally noticed the other person that had entered the shop. "Well hi there!" He greeted cheerfully.

Glad for someone friendly, the weapon expert turned to the boy and smiled back. "Hi. I'm TenTen." she introduced herself.

"If you haven't figured out already, I'm Nathan," he introduced, indicating himself and then the dark teen behind him with a thumb. "The stiff stick over there is my older brother-"

"Falon," the teen interrupted, glancing a glare in his little brother's direction.

"She's from another world and helped us out with the Heartless invasion," Yuffie said.

"Really? That's just awesome!" Nathan said, looking to the bun-haired ninja with slight awe in his eyes. "Well, if that's the case, you guys must be loaded and want to spend it, huh? Huh?"

"Not too much, though," Yuffie replied. "We spent most of it in the weapon shop."

"Aw, nuts!" Nathan said, snapping his fingers across himself. A pout formed on his face. "Those three always get the good stuff." A grunt of agreement sounded from the teen behind him.

"If it'll make you feel any better," Tenten offered. "We'll buy some things from here, too."

In a snap, the apparent blue-fanatic was grinning again. "In that case," he said, a hopeful glint in his eyes. "Let me show you around! As I always say, what good is a shield if it only blocks the fist but not the blow?"

"But you don't always say that. That was just from a comic book you read," Falon grumbled in protest, arms crossed. "That's not even a good quote."

"Yeah, well, it's a good comic, so hah!"

Falon rolled his eyes, or eye, in response. "Idiot," he grumbled.

His brother heard it however. "Jerk!" he cheerfully retaliated.

"Loser"

"Meanie"

"You're immature"

"You're emo!"

Falon glared at the boy. "I hate you"

"Love ya, too, bro!" Nathan happily called over his shoulders as he directed, more like shoved, the two girls to the shelves at the opposite end of the room. The older brother only huffed and rolled his eyes in response.

So the three scoured the shelves and Tenten was surprised to learn that the bracelets and rings, while pretty, were actually imbued with magic that helped the wearer's resistance to certain types of attacks. Some even enhanced the wearer's own strengths and magical capabilities. All the while, Falon either watched them with his hawk-like eyes or played with the twig in his mouth. The two brothers did banter with each other on occasion, though; throwing insults back and forth like one would play ball in a game of catch.

Eventually, Tenten, with Yuffie's Munny, bought a pair of hair ties that can equip Materia, a couple of wristbands and bangles as well as a few rings. Their functions varied from raising one's defense to reducing ice damage.

"Oh yeah!" Nathan exclaimed as Falon began to tally up the costs. "We've got a sale for one of our latest products. It's a collar that'll let you equip up to. . . uh. . . " he turned to his brother sheepishly.

"Up to 3 materia," Falon finished with a roll of his eye. "We went over this already. You should know even, you're the designer."

"Yeah, well. . . " the blue-loving boy scrunched his face as he tried to think of a good comeback. Falon smirked. "Whatever! It's only 200 Munny for today and tomorrow. It's size is also pretty adjustable."

"Hmm. . ." Tenten hummed in contemplation. She then thought of Akamaru. "Sure," she agreed.

"Great!" Nathan said happily. "Wait here a few seconds. We've got a box of them in the back." He dashed off to the back of the room and through the 'Employees Only' door there.

Falon began to place their purchases in a bag. "When he says a few seconds," he started.

"Got it!"

"He means a few seconds," the older brother finished, face still blank as though this happened all the time. Tenten and Yuffie turned around to find the younger brother already zipping back to them, a red collar in his hands.

After purchasing their new accessories, they bid their goodbyes. Falon shrugged and went to count their profits. Nathan was more animated and waved enthusiastically with a grin on his face, telling them to come back soon.

Shopping done, Tenten decided go back to Merlin's house to wait for the rest of the gang and show off her new weapons. She also wanted to find Akamaru to give him the collar she bought for him. Yuffie agreed and said that Merlin had a training room and that she could practice in there.

So the two female ninjas went off on their way.

* * *

><p>Sakura had just equipped the Materia to her gloves. "Whoa. . . this feels good." She said as she felt a small jolt of energy coming from her gloves and spreading throughout her body.<p>

Aerith giggled a little as she paid the shopkeepers the total costs of the Materia bought. "Yeah, you'll get that feeling when you first equip Materia."

"You got that right," Ino said as she equipped her Materia to her sash.

"Wanna try them out?" Aerith asked after they finished.

"Sure!" Sakura and Ino said in semi-unison as they headed out and in the direction of Merlin's house, where Aerith said that he had a training room.

* * *

><p>"Catch, doggy!" a little girl giggled as she threw a bouncy ball a distance away. In a pale blur, a large, furry dog streaked by and caught the ball in midair. Akamaru landed with a 'thump' and padded back to the small group of children near the entrance to the Marketplace, tail wagging.<p>

Sitting on top of a stone ledge was Akamaru's partner, Kiba. He watched with mild amusement as his canine friend proceeded to give the girl a lick on the cheek before playing again. It was nice to see his pal act like a normal dog once in a while instead of the trained nindog that he grew up into. But still, he, himself, was bored and it would be kinda cruel to tear the kids' fun away, especially since they probably had to go through that trauma of being evacuated away from the Heartless earlier in the day.

Just as one of the little boys threw the ball with Akamaru giving chase, his sharp ears caught a faint noise. It sounded like something with long claws was skittering on the rock wall.

Thinking that it was a Heartless, Kiba spun onto his feet, stumbling a little before he remembered that he was on a ledge. Tensed, he looked around with sharp eyes. There was nothing on the ledge or on the nearby roofs.

A tug on his shorts snapped his attention to his left. Sitting next to his shoe was a blue creature. It resembled a weird combination of a dog and a koala with long, bat-like ears. Its large, black eyes stared back at him.

*blink*

Pause.

"Hi~"

"Ahh!" Kiba shouted and promptly fell off the ledge.

Thankfully, it wasn't too far down. But his back would argue that the rock floor still hurt. His crash landing attracted the children's attention and Akamaru bounded to his partner, sniffing him and giving him a lick in concern.

One of the boys, the one that threw the ball earlier, looked up and spotted something. "Look, guys!" he shouted, pointing at something on the ledge.

The blue creature that scared Kiba off the ledge, though the shinobi won't admit it, was laughing joyfully. It held its stomach with its blue forearms and rolled around a bit, its feet kicking into the air.

The strange being rolled out of their sight and the incoherent sound of grumbling quickly took their attention away as most things tend to do with kids. The big teen that let them play with his dog sat up, a hand rubbing the back of his head.

A girl named Meeshka walked up to the teen. "Awe you okay, mista?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kiba answered, giving a reassuring smile to the little girl.

"Aloha!" a voice shouted, startling them. In front of Kiba was the blue creature from before, having slipped everyone's notice.

Finally recognizing the creature as the one from the training Cavern, Kiba pointed at the thing, Akamaru growling at it beside him. "Hey! You're th-"

He was interrupted when, in a blue blur, the mutant koala leaped onto his head. Jumping off, it landed in front of the rest of the group of kids, ignoring Kiba's cry of surprise and Akamaru's bark. The blue thing then sat in front of the kids, giving them a grin before scratching behind one of its ears with a hind paw.

"Aw, it's a puppy!" the boy from earlier, Tez, exclaimed. Immediately, the children crowded around the (poor) blue 'dog.'

Recovering from being used as a stepping stone with a hand to his face, Kiba saw the commotion. Even Meeshka had joined the crowd, all of them poking, petting, and stroking the blue thing.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he shouted, trying to get their attention. Akamaru barked next to him. "That thing might be dangerous!"

They were, unfortunately, ignored as the children's giggles and astonished sounds continued.

Suddenly, a blue blur burst out of the crowd of kids, eliciting surprised shouts from them and causing a few to stumble backwards and fall onto the ground. A yelp from Akamaru and Kiba was shocked to see that the creature had landed on the nindog's backside like one would a horse. Akamaru began to run around, bounding and bucking, but the thing held on.

Kiba went to help his friend and calm him down as Akamaru tried to reach around his shoulders with snapping jaws. The blue thing suddenly dug its claws into Akamaru's back, thankfully not leaving any marks or drawing blood, but it was enough to make the nindog give a slight howl before racing off.

"Akamaru, wait!" Kiba shouted as he ran after them, trying to get the nindog to calm down. Behind him, the kids were either laughing or waving goodbye to the trio, not understanding the panic.

They raced through Marketplace, nearly crashing into a duck with a top hat and cane and the other residents of the town. Nearby, a scruffy dog with a white and tan coat and a red bandana tied around its neck seemed to raise an eyebrow at the scene, the small orange kitten next to it tilting its head. Along the way, Kiba shouted apologizes left and right.

"Sorry!" "Excuse me!" "Akamaru, calm down!" "I'll pay you back later!" "Sorry!" "Watch out!" "Sorry over there!" "Coming through!" "Akamaru, wait up!"

All the way, the evil koala held on, sometimes belting out great bouts of maniacal laughter.

* * *

><p>Everywhere else. . .<p>

Kakashi was still giggling like a pervert as he started selling some of Jiraiya's books to the bookstore. "The porn shall now be spread. . ." He muttered as the bookstore owner looked at him funny.

Kakashi just smiled to stave off any worries.

Outside and else-wheres, Sai continued to paint the Heartless castle from the Bailey. Shikamaru was still resting on the roof and Choji was still learning about the foods of this world. Shino was still meditating on Merlin's roof.

Any noise and commotion caused by a big dog with a blue thing riding it like a horse and the dog's human partner, wasn't heard or noticed to them.

* * *

><p>The room was silent after that wisp of a whisper.<p>

Xion continued to stare at the figure on the ground. It was the same one. The same one from the vision after the battle where Lee, Kiba with Akamaru, and Sai defeated Saix. The same one that fought the darkness known as Master Xehanort with two friends. Aqua. However, as her shock subsided, she began to notice some things.

First, was the lack of an actual body. This created a strange mixture of relief, worry, and confusion. Relief that there was no dead body in there, Worry for what had happened to the owner of the armor and keyblade, and Confusion as to why these things were down here with the Nobody symbol glowing on the walls.

Second, she noticed that the armor actually looked clean. There was no layer of dust like she would have expected, considering that this room was hidden deep underground.

"But. . . Aqua," Xion muttered to herself. "She couldn't have been. . ." She stopped the thoughts there, not wanting to think about that kind of a scenario.

Xion stepped out from behind the chair, or throne, and walked closer to the set of (apparently) discarded armor. She reached out, hesitant that it wasn't real and would just disappear. She was relieved when she touched it, fears of it being all a dream fading away.

Deciding that it didn't look good for it to just lay there on the floor, she picked up the pieces of armor and placed them on the chair, arranging them to look as though it was sitting. As she did so, the room began to light up, spreading from the throne to the walls and upwards.  
>She stepped back to admire her work. It looked better now. More honorable in a way.<p>

She looked back to the keyblade, sticking to the ground like the other, rustier keyblades in the Keyblade Graveyard. She slowly reached out for the handle, more worried with it than with the armor. This was a keyblade. And keyblades, when not in the hand of their chosen wielder and in someone else's, would disappear.

Xion grabbed its handle and let out a breath of relief as the Keyblade didn't disappear. She tugged it out of the ground and brought it over to the throne, laying it against one of its arms.

She stepped back and looked at the whole thing with a semi-critical eye. A few seconds later, she nodded, satisfied. There. It looked complete.

"Sort of," she thought, thinking back to the woman that wore the armor and wielded the keyblade from the vision.

She stood in silence and in contemplation, trying to figure out just what all this meant. From the visions to the apparent revival of the other members of the original Organization XIII, from Chromoruxia's own Organization to this very room and the armor inside it. Are all these events connected in some way? And if they are, how? And what would happen next? What was going to happen to them?

What about the other trio? Terra? Ven?. . . Aqua? What had happened to them? How did Aqua's armor make it here? What did the Nobodies have to do with it? As far as she and the others knew, the three were battling Master Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard.

As far as they knew. . . She suddenly shook her head, halting her thoughts. "The visions," she murmured. "There's still more. Six more, if my math is correct. We need to find out what happened. Maybe then, we could finally get some answers."

Nodding to herself in resolve, she walked to the door. Passing the chair, she paused and laid a hand on the back of the chair, just beside the helmet.

She looked down sadly at the armor and keyblade. They actually looked kinda lonely without their owner wearing and using them. "I don't know what happened," she said. "But my friends and I...We'll stop them. We'll stop any and all future plans of darkness. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. . . Chromoruxia. . . Akatsuki. . . Master Xehanort," her eyes narrowed at the name and at the pain he created between Aqua and her friends.

"We'll stop them. Any threat to the worlds. . .and Kingdom Hearts," she promised, to herself and to the armor and keyblade, feeling in her heart as though the owner heard it as well and supported her.

With new resolve, Xion walked out of the room. The doors slid shut behind her.  
>Xion made her way through the hall, once more carefully avoiding the debris from the damaged cells. The doors slid open for her and she found herself back in the deep, long spiral walkway. She paused to let her eyes adjust from bright to dark.<p>

She gave the distance an exasperated look before sighing and beginning to head back up to the lab.

"Man. . . that was crazy," she muttered to herself, the silence of this place, even with the electrical hum, bugging her. "To think. . . Aqua's armor was down here. . . and her keyblade."

"I better keep this a secret from the others," she thought. "Don't want them all to worry about this."

It took a while, but she finally made it back to the platform with the ramp that lead to the lab. She was panting slightly by then and breathed a huge sigh of relief once she exited the secret passage. A flash behind her caught her eye and, turning, she saw that the door had slid closed and the seams disappeared.

She then made her way to the computer room and the hallways that would lead her back to Ansem's study.

Just as she passed by the room, a beep sounded, making her pause and look back into it. "User Xion," Tron's voice said from the speakers. "Glad to see you're back, safe and sound."

"Hey, Tron." Xion greeted, stepping into the room. "Thanks for helping me out here. How did the testing go, by the way?"

"It went well," the program answered. "The reaction time just needed to be adjusted, though. But it was quickly handled and the Claymore defense program is up-to-date."

"You didn't tell Cid or anyone else, did you?" Xion asked worriedly.

"No, I didn't. But are you sure you want to keep this a secret?" Tron asked. "It would be helpful to have more of the Users know about this."

"Yes," Xion answered with a firm nod. "I'm sure. They all already have other things to worry about, like rebuilding what was damaged in that war, and we can't lose focus now."

"Alright then."

"Thanks, Tron."

"You're welcome."

"It must be late. I'm gonna head back to the others. See ya," Xion said as she made her way out of the computer room.

"You as well, User Xion." With that, Tron left as well, the computer room falling silent except the low hum of electricity.

Xion entered the study, finding it the same as she left it. She carefully made her way to the door, picking up some of the books on the way and placing them either on the desk or on the bookshelf closest to her. She left the room, closing the door behind her and navigated her way through the Corridors.

Once outside, she paused. The sky was getting darker and the first few stars were out, shining brightly. Below, a few of the town's streetlamps began to light up. The breeze was cool and seemed to smell and feel of the approaching night.

She smiled slightly at the sudden peaceful and hopeful feeling that settled in her recently-uncovered heart. Xion then headed back in the direction of Merlin's house.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for the business," Kakashi said to the shopkeeper of the bookstore, smiling underneath his mask. "My client will be grateful for this chance to spread his work."<p>

"No problem, sir," the shopkeeper, a young man named Stro, said. "It's nice to help artists, painting or writing, get noticed."

"True, true," Kakashi said. Then he noticed from the nearby window that the sun was setting. "Well, I better go. It's getting late."

"Alright. Take care! And thanks for the books!"

"You're welcome," Kakashi said with a slight smirk.

He giggled to himself, thinking perverted thoughts and eliciting a confused look on Stro's face. He just waved it off and went outside. Behind him, Stro rose an eyebrow before shrugging it off as the masked man left. He then called over to his daughter, who was fixing some of the books in the back, to come to the front and help him classify the new books. After all, it's more orderly to figure out just which category these books would go to after they're first few weeks in the showcase shelf. And what better way to do it than to take a peek in them?

Outside, Kakashi was still giggling to himself at the books and how they would now spread to another world. A nearby streetlamp turned on, catching his attention and reminding him of the time.

"Well, better head back. But first. . ." he said to himself, noticing a commotion that was moving closer.

It was Akamaru with that strange blue creature from before riding on his back and Kiba running after them. The comical trio passed by him and he looked blankly after them.

"How Kiba gets into these kinds of situations, I'll never know," he said with a shrug and a shake of his head. Then he started to chase after them.

* * *

><p>Lee and Snow were breathing heavily, most of their energy spent from the fight. Both of them were lying on their backs on the ground, facing opposite ways and the tops of their heads close. They had decided to end their spar in a tie, the both of them being equally matched in the end.<p>

"Man. . .That was an awesome match. . ." Snow said, panting with a tired smile on his face.

"Indeed it was, Snow." Lee replied, breathless but with his usual smile on his face.

The two then sat back up and stretched their arms. Their joints creaked and groaned a bit in protest, but they ignored it and continued to get some feeling back.

"I think we better head back now. It's starting to get late," Snow said, looking at the color-changing sky.

"That would be-" Lee was about to say when he started to hear a large amount of barking coming from town.

"The heck!?" Snow exclaimed as the two quickly got to their feet. They then headed into town, their legs burning slightly from having to work some more.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Hinata were about to head back to Merlin's place when they heard some commotion nearby.<p>

"Huh?" Naruto muttered. Suddenly, coming towards them from around a corner was Akamaru with a familiar blue creature on his back. "That's-!"

"Somebody stop him!" Kiba yelled as he chased them..

Hinata quickly summoned out her keyblade and Naruto made some shadow clones. The shadow clones quickly formed a wall to try and stop the nindog in his tracks.

Hinata then pointed her keyblade at Akamaru. "Sorry about this Akamaru. Bind!"

Akamaru quickly stopped where he was standing. The blue creature was flung off of him and into the air.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered before he saw the creature getting closer. "Ah, crud." The blue creature then landed on the real Naruto's face, laughing like a maniac before starting to play with his face, though not scratching it.

"Get that thing off him!" One of the clones said. "Got it!" All of them said as they all dog-piled onto the real Naruto. There was soon a mass of orange, yellow, and blue in the middle of the street.

Hinata and Kiba sweat-dropped as Kakashi, Lee, and Snow appeared. They stared blankly at the comical scene.

"What happened exactly?" Snow asked.

"We were just playing around with the kids in the Borough when this thing showed up!" Kiba explained after getting his breath back. "Then it started to ride on Akamaru like he was a horse or something!" he exclaimed indignantly.

Akamaru, having been freed from the spell earlier, barked in agreement. "Yeah, we practically went through the whole town," Kiba said.

"Hey, I recognize it," Hinata said.

Kakashi nodded. "It's the same one we met in the Cavern with the training portals," he said.

"Oh, you mean Stitch?" Snow said.

"Stitch?" "It has a name?!"

"Yeah," Snow said. "He's always been really mischievous. From what I've heard, he's actually something called 'Experiment 626' and that he was created to be like that. I think last year, he reversed street signs, backed up sewers, and stole everyone's left shoe."

"But he's been getting better," Snow explained after seeing the worried look on everyone's, except Naruto's since he was still busy, faces. "The most he's done this year was scare some of the kids. And he doesn't really harm anyone. He can really pack a punch against the Heartless, too, so he's very helpful to the Committee when there's some around."

"Hah!" a shout from the side caught their attention. They turned and saw that a few of the Naruto clones had managed to pin Stitch face down with a clone to each paw. The others sweatdropped at the sight.

Snow sighed and walked up to Stitch's head. Kneeling, he spoke, "Alright Stitch. You had your fun. Now, are you gonna stop? It's getting kinda late and we're all tired."

Stitch seemed to actually pout at his fun being stopped. But after a moment, he nodded. "Ih," he said.

"Good," Snow then looked to the Naruto clones. "Can you let him go, now? When he says he'll stop, he will," he assured them.

Reluctantly, the shadow clones were dismissed in poofs of smoke. Stitch picked himself off and dusted his fur before looking up at the Snow with a weirdly sheepish and toothy grin.

Snow nodded in satisfaction before making his way to Merlin's house. "Alright then. It's late and I have feeling that Aerith's already back. She's probably worried about us," he said.

The ninjas followed after him, Lee pulling Snow into a conservation about their spar. Kiba and Akamaru kept a distance away from Stitch, who had taken to alternatively skittering along the nearby walls and crawling on the ground. Hinata and Naruto held hands and at the back of the group was Kakashi, who was silent and observing everything with a lazy eye.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before Tenten and Yuffie returned to Merlin's house.<p>

"We're back!" Yuffie announced as she headed in with Tenten closing the door behind them.

Cid turned around as he finished whatever he was doing. "Well then, look who's back." He then smirked at the two. "Yuffie, Panda head."

Tenten went wide eyed. "P-panda!" She then blushed in embarrassment at the nickname. "It's Tenten. . ." She muttered as Yuffie and Cid started to chuckle a little.

"Ah, I'm just messing with ya." Cid said.

"He does that for an old crackpot." Yuffie snickered. Tenten now started to snicker at the name and Cid's jaw dropped. With a huff, he returned to his computer.

The door opened again, catching everyone's attention. Aerith, Sakura, and Ino entered with Sakura closing the door behind them.

"Hey guys!" Ino greeted with an enthusiastic wave. "Check out our Materia!" She then indicated the glowing orbs set into her sash. Sakura pitched in by showing off the Materia equipped to her gloves.

"Ooh, neat!" Yuffie said, taking a closer look. "I see someone's got a Poison Materia. That's a great one when you're wearing someone down."

"Thanks!" Ino said.

"What's this one?" Tenten asked, pointing to a slightly glowing green one set into Sakura's right-hand glove.

"That's an earth Materia," Sakura explained. "It'll help power up my own earthquake punches."

"Cool," Tenten said. "I've got some shiny weapons added in to my arsenal. Wanna try them out?"

"Sure!" both girls answered.

"You can use the training room Merlin's got in the back," Yuffie said. "The entire room is enchanted so that any attacks that happen in there won't affect the outside. At least, anything that can fit into the room; I don't think the wards could handle extreme ones. Here, I'll show you where it is." With that, she led the Tenten, Ino, and Sakura into one of the hallways.

"Has anyone else come back?" Aerith asked Cid.

"Nanaki came back wit' Pete a while ago," Cid answered, looking away from the computer screen for a moment. "Leon then left wit' them to the cells under here. Said he's got a few questions for the fatty. Either than them, no one else. Oh, and the message has been sent to the King, but Chip and Dale said that His Majesty was out busy with something. They said that when he comes back, they'll tell him." The mechanic and computer expert turned back to his coding.

Aerith went to the kitchen to whip up dinner. A few minutes later, Cid decided to take a break and help her, thinking that, after the big fight, they all deserved a feast.

* * *

><p>As the sun dipped lower and lower in the sky, everyone began to pack up and head home. Or in the off-worlders' case, Merlin's house.<p>

Sai finished painting the castle, giving it a critical eye before nodding in satisfaction (or some feeling close to it) and packing up his supplies. Shikamaru woke up from his nap as a nearby streetlamp turned on. He yawned and stretched his arms a little before, reluctantly, getting up. A quick glance to the sky and then he leisurely made his way to the others. Choji wrote down most of the food ideas he learned as he headed back to Merlin's.

On the roof of Merlin's house, Shino waited silently for his bugs to return. As a nearby streetlamp turned on, they returned, though slowly and in small groups. No need to cause a panic so late in the evening. When all his bugs were back in his body, he jumped down from the roof, landing nimbly on his feet, and made his way into the deceptive house. Who knew that it was so large on the inside?

Choji was surprisingly the first to make it back (though after Shino). When he followed the delicious smells, he eagerly decided to help out with the cooking. Aerith and Cid were happy for it.

Outside, Leon were just about to open the door when he spotted a large group coming down from another street. It was Snow, Lee, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba Akamaru, Kakashi, and surprisingly Stitch. He had wondered where the little monstrosity went.

"Hey Leon!" Snow greeted with a wave. Leon nodded and left the door open as he made his way in. The others followed in, Stitch taking to crawling on the walls once more.

Sai and Shikarmaru came in next, in that order. Hinata was getting worried after a while, wondering where Xion was. Soon, however, Xion entered the house.

Something was different though, she could see that. There was a slight faraway look in her blue eyes and she was quieter as she greeted everyone.

The door opening once more distracted her thoughts, however. The last one to return, Nanaki, padded into the (crowded) room.

"Hey guys!" Tenten shouted from the hallway, followed by Ino and Sakura.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Where were you guys?" he asked.

"Trying out my new weapons," Tenten answered.

"And our Materia," Sakura added in.

"Dinner's ready!" Aerith called out before any more questions could be asked.

Everyone filed into the dining room and settled themselves at the big table, which was loaded with more food than the last time they were here. The next few minutes were filled with the normal sounds of eating; utensils scraping against plates, cups being placed down, food being munched on and even the odd burp or two (followed by an embarrassed apology).

A moment afterwards, conversation took hold. The day's events were shared and news was exchanged.

"So you got some accessories, too?" Xion asked Tenten.

"Yup!" she answered. "Oh! That's reminds me!"

The weapon expert turned to Kiba. "Kiba, I've got a cool collar for Akamaru; it'll let you equip some Materia to him."

"And it looks stylish," Ino piped in.

"Really, cool! Thanks Tenten," Kiba said. Beside him and on the floor, eating from a separate bowl, was Akamaru, who had heard the exchange and barked happily.

"I'll lend ya a Fire and Steal Materia," Yuffie offered, fishing around in her pockets. "I usually have a spare or two, so no need to worry!"

So the conversations continued. Much laughter and snickering was shared at Kiba's and Akamaru's expense, and if not, smirks from the quiet people like Leon and Shino. Eventually, dinner ended and Aerith, with Cid's and Chouji's help, began to gather the dishes and utensils for cleaning.

"So what are you guys going to do tomorrow?" Leon asked, arms folded as he sat back in his seat.

"Go back to the Cavern and finish up training," Xion said.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "We've got six more, and then we'll go back home and face Chromoruxia's Organization."

"Oh, you should all rest first," Aerith said. "It must not be comfortable to sleep in the cavern over there."

"Now that you mention it. . ." Naruto muttered to himself.

"We've got extra rooms here," Cid said. "They're mostly fer emergencies in case the residential area goes kablooey and there are lots of homeless people. Also fer guests if we get them."

"Well. . ." Xion was a little hesitant, worried about what Chromouxia and his cronies would do in their absence.

"Just for the night at least," Aerith insisted.

So the decision was made that the Konoha shinobi would stay a night in Merlin's house before heading back to the Cavern and finishing off their training. Some of them were still amazed that even though the house looked small and homely on the outside, it was huge and comparable to a mansion on the inside.

Before Xion headed off to sleep however, she turned to Cid who was also about to turn in for the night. "Cid, I forgot to ask earlier. But, where's Merlin?" she asked.

"He got a note from some ol' friend of his that wanted his help," Cid answered. "He didn't tell us who or what, but he's usually like that' the crazy coot."

"Oh, okay. Thanks," Xion said. "And goodnight." Cid returned it and they both left to their rooms.

* * *

><p>Deep beneath the magical house were a bunch of cells. One cell in particular held a tubby, pathetic, evil henchman named Pete. He no longer had a gag to his mouth, but his hands were still tied and behind his back. The cell was also outfitted with magic wards, so he couldn't portal himself out even if he tried.<p>

His feet were free though and he took to pacing around in his cell. In front of him and against the wall was a table with the three pixies from earlier on it. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine were counting up and inspecting the treasure they had managed to find in the dark castle. Included were some accessories and low-level Materia.

The door down the hall opened and Leon entered, carrying a tray of food and tiny drinks. Rikku cheered and flew straight to the food as it was set down on the table and the other two Gullwings joined her after thanking Leon.

Leon nodded in return and sat on the seat next to the table, gunblade resting against him. Folding his arms, he kept an eye out on the prisoner and also glaring at him.

Pete already knew that Leon wouldn't let him out and was most likely down here to watch over him. The Gullwings were too busy on dinner and their treasure to care. Ears flicked down, he then decided to just sit on the cot next to him.

The smell of the food wafted over to him and he thought he heard his stomach growl. He glanced outside of his cell and was only met with a stern glare, making him flinch.

It was going to be a long night. . . . .

* * *

><p>The next morning, everyone was up and about and getting ready for the day. Leon had returned earlier in the night as Yuffie took the next shift, followed by Nanaki. The Gullwings had teleported themselves to wherever they were staying after having finished their dinner.<p>

Outside Merlin's house, everyone was reluctant to say goodbye. But the Committee was needed to continue the Garden's restoration and the Konoha shinobi needed to get stronger and save their world.

Tenten, Sakura, and Ino thanked Aerith and Yuffie for helping them get new weapons and upgrade their abilities. Snow and Lee fist-bumped and promised each other that if they met up again, they would spar and see if either of them had improved. Nanaki was giving advice to Kiba and Akamaru about the new Materia collar. Cid was thanking Choji for helping out with the meals. Everyone else was silent.

Xion stepped up to Leon. "Thanks Leon for letting us stay the night."

"No problem," Leon said with a shrug. "It's the least we could do for helping us out. Speaking of which," Leon then turned to Cid as he finished discussing some recipes with Choji.

"Cid, you said you had something to give to them?" Everyone turned to the computer expert with curious looks.

"Yep," Cid said as he pulled out a stack of cards from his back pocket. "I talked with Leon here about this and he agreed. Anyways, we've decided to give you folks these," He proceeded to hand out a card to each of the Konoha shinobi.

Xion recognized them immediately. "Membership cards!" she exclaimed.

"Wow," Hinata said as she flipped it over front and back. She looked back up to the Leon and the Committee, "Thanks Leon!"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Like I said before, it's the least we could do."

"We'll make sure to come back, then," Naruto said as he pocketed his own card. The others nodded.

"See ya soon, then," Hinata said as she and the rest of the slowly departed.

Xion lagged behind though, her thoughts drifting to the room she found yesterday. Leon noticed and came up to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you're going to get left behind," he said, voice tinged in concern.

"Oh, well. . ." Xion hesitated, wondering if she should tell him about the room and its contents. She decided not to. "Well, I guess I'm worried that the world barriers would come back up again and we won't be able to visit."

"Hmph," Leon said as he released Xion's shoulder and folded his arms. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other," he said.

Xion smiled, a memory that wasn't her own popping into her head. "How did I know you were going to say something like that?" she said with slight sarcasm.

Leon raised an eyebrow but smirked and gave the ex-Organization member a slight push in the direction her friends had taken. "Go," he said simply.

Xion nodded and waved at the rest of the Committee, who waved or nodded back. She ran to catch up with her friends as they headed back to the Caverns.


	49. Chapter 49

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 49: Team 8 vs. The Cloaked Schemer

In Konoha, three weeks after the group left for training. . .

"So, the final preparations are complete?" Tsunade asked.

It was a clear, normal day outside, but inside was a serious atmosphere. Currently, she and her assistant, Shizune were in her office. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, papers and scrolls strewn atop it. Shizune was standing attentively in front of her desk, eyeing the papers worriedly and secretly looking for any sake bottles that shouldn't be there.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Shizune said. "Hinata and Naruto will be living together in a new apartment as planned."

"And the rest of the Hyuga clan?"

"They don't know. The only ones that do are Lord Hiashi, and his second daughter Hanabi."

"Good. You may go now." Tsunade ordered.

"Yes, my lady." Shizune said as she bowed and left.

With sharp hearing, Tsunade listened as her assistant's footsteps faded away. After they were completely gone, she sighed tiredly with relief and opened one of the desk drawers. Reaching in, she took out a bottle of sake and opened it.

"Naruto. . .you better be able to handle this when you get back. . ." she muttered before chugging down the bottle's contents. "And Jiraiya better get back here soon, too!"

* * *

><p>In Radiant Garden. . .<p>

The group returned to the cavern, feeling stronger then before thanks to the experience with the Heartless war that happened. After having a day of relaxation, they returned to the cavern, rested up and ready to take on the next member.

Naruto suddenly sneezed and he covered his mouth.

"You alright?" Kakashi asked as everyone looked at him; some in concern, other in confusion or both.

"Yeah, I'm alright, just getting a little cold. Naruto said. "Somebody must be talking about me." he thought.

"Well then," Xion started as everyone then turned back to her. She was standing in front of the door to the next member. "We're at the final six, supposedly the toughest members of the original organization," she continued.

"Jeez Xion, don't put that much pressure on us." Kiba muttered.

"Nervous, Kiba?" Ino jokingly asked.

Kiba growled at Ino and next to him, Akamaru did the dog-equivalent of a face-palm with the back of his paw. "No, it's just that the way she was describing these guys, they seem to be extremely tough."

Xion nodded. "And they are," she agreed. Stepping away to stand next to the door, they could see the silhouette of a book with an engraved Nobody symbol in it.

Instantly, eyebrows rose in incredulity. "A book?" Naruto said. "Seriously? What's this guy gonna do; Bore me to death with lectures?"

"Don't forget, no-balls," Sai said, ducking from the responding punch. "I fight with my sketchbook," he pointed out as he leaped away to avoid anymore attacks from an angry fox-container, teammate, and Hyuga heiress.

"Don't understate him," Xion said, gaining everyone's attention again. "Zexion is really tricky and loves to mess with your mind. From what I can remember and what Axel told me, he can trap you in that Lexicon of his."

She paused and crossed her arms. "I think it would be very helpful for Hinata to use her Byakugan and see through the illusions. Also. . . Isn't your teacher a master of illusions?"

"Kurenai-sensei's the best genjutsu user there is!" Kiba said proudly, Akamaru barking in agreement.

"Hmm. . ." Xion looked to the sky in contemplation for a moment before turning to Hinata and her teammates. "Well, how about the original Team 8 fights Zexion?"

"It could help sharpen their senses against illusions." Kakashi agreed.

"It'll be great to fight with you guys again," Hinata said as she smiled at her teammates.

"Heh," Kiba smirked. "Just like old times!"

"Indeed," Shino said with a smile that was covered by long scarf he wore.

Akamaru barked in agreement and padded up to Xion. The nindog then gave her a lick to the cheek, probably meaning that he was thanking her.

Xion couldn't help but laugh. "You're welcome Akamaru," She then noticed that the Fire and Steal Materia were equipped to his new collar. "I guess you like the collar huh?" She jokingly asked as Akamaru barked happily.

The other three members of Team 8 headed up to where Xion and Akamaru were. Kiba got on his partner's back.

"Alright! I can't wait to get started!" Kiba said as he rubbed Akamaru behind his ear, the nindog's tail wagging in response. "We're gonna give it everything we got!"

"Easy, Kiba," Xion said as she rubbed Akamaru's other ear. "You gotta remember not to fall for his tricks or it could be your down fall. He's a master of illusion."

"Xion's right Kiba," Shino said. "We all still remember what you told Akamaru to do against Saïx."

Kiba face-faulted a little but managed to keep his grip on Akamaru. "You guys aren't gonna let me live that down are you?"

Naruto and Choji chuckled a little but they were then glared at by Sakura and Ino, respectfully. "We'll be good." They said in unison.

"Ok. . .moving that out of the way," Kakashi said. "Are you four ready?"

"Yes!" The three said in semi-unison and Akamaru barked a 'yes'.

"Then you better head in there," Xion said, waving a hand to the door.

"Let's do this!" Kiba said as Akamaru ran in with Kiba on his back.

Shino felt like palming his face, but he just looked on and sighed as he calmly walked in.

"Be back soon," Hinata said as she quickly winked at Naruto and followed her teammates. The portal glowed a final yellow.

The rest of the group then huddled over the computer to watch the action unfold.

* * *

><p>The first thing Team 8 noticed was that it was dark. Not pitch-black dark, but the arena was dim.<p>

The second thing they noticed was that it was windy. Gusts blew from nearly all directions, whipping their clothes and hair to and fro. The winds were, thankfully, not strong enough to lift them off their feet.

Then they noticed just where they were. They were on a single piece of land that looked to be part of a beach. Instead of an ocean, it abruptly cut off into a drop that had a deep purple, almost black, substance below. Around the whole area, dark storm clouds tinged in purple swirled and rumbled, filled with thunder and lightning, but no rain. Pieces of rocks, of the same beach, floated in the air around. On their piece of land, the wind blew the sand around, slightly stinging, what plants there were, tropical flora and palm trees, were either crushed or a wilting brown, providing little to no shelter/cover. Broken planks of wood littered the edges and the remains of a bridge hanged off into the air from the land.

The whole place was desolate and ruined.

* * *

><p>Outside, everyone was staring wide-eyed at the scene that greeted them on the monitor, some with mouths gaping.<p>

"What. . ." Sakura muttered, a hand to her mouth in shock. "What is that place?"

There was only silence, but in the edge of his sight, Kakashi noticed that Xion was shaking. Badly. Her blue eyes were wide and lit with fear.

"Xion. . .?" Kakashi asked quietly. Everyone heard it and turned their attention to the ex-Organization member, most giving her concerned looks.

No answer. Kakashi stepped closer and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, making her jump. She looked around for a moment, before giving a shaky sigh and running a still trembling hand through her black hair.

"Xion?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"That's. . ." Xion tried to say, but it felt like there was a lump in her throat. She gulped before continuing. "That's what happens when the Heartless take over and find the heart to the world; covering it in darkness and engulfing it."

Everyone was shocked into silence; even Choji stopped his chip munching to gape in shock. Others have taken to looking at the screen in horror at the destruction it showed.

"No way. . ." Naruto muttered. "That's what happens when the Heartless take over!?"

Xion nodded numbly. Shikamaru, with sharp eyes, noticed the reluctance in her eyes as she gazed at the ground.

"That's not all," the lazy genius said. "Is it?"

Xion emitted a soft sound of distress before answering. "No. That's Destiny Islands when the Heartless came and took its heart."

It might not have been anymore possible for wide eyes to grow wider. They alternatively switched their gazes from the former replica, whose shoulders dropped seemingly in fatigue, to the screen and back. Naruto came up and placed a comforting hand on her other shoulder and she glanced back him to give him a grateful smile before turning her attention back to the ground, biting her lip.

Meanwhile, Sai was looking critically at the screen, eyes narrowed in concentration. Next to him, Shikamaru rose an eyebrow. "Sai?" he asked.

"I doubt you would have noticed, Pineapple-head," the artist said. "But where is Team 8? They're not on the screen."

This immediately took everyone's attention; even Xion as her head snapped up to look at the screen in surprise.

"What's going on?" she said quietly.

* * *

><p>Back in the arena. . .<p>

Kiba and Akamaru looked around in horror. They had never seen a destruction like this ever in their lives.

"Geez," Kiba muttered, still sitting atop Akamaru, whose tail was tucked between his legs. "Where do you guys think we are?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to where his teammates were.

There was no one. Shocked, Kiba leapt off his partner and spun around every direction in search of his teammates. But there was only the edges of the piece of land and the endless storm around it, dark and unwelcoming.

"Hinata?" he called out, Akamaru joining him with a series of barks. "Shino? Where are you guys!?"

* * *

><p>Hinata looked around fearfully at the destruction around her. She remembered from what Xion and Master Yen Sid had told her; about what happens to a world when its heart is taken over by the Heartless. It's why the Keyblade was so crucial to the survival of the worlds; to lock away the world's heart so the Heartless would never get it.<p>

What worried her the most was the fact that her teammates were missing. She had hoped that upon stepping through, Kiba and Shino would be waiting for her. But they weren't there.

Her Byakugan was activated, remembering from what Xion had said before that their opponent was an expert on illusions. But there was still no sign of her friends.

She was all alone.

* * *

><p>Shino gazed at his surroundings silently, critically.<p>

His eyes were hidden under his sunglasses and his mouth was covered by his scarf, which whipped behind him in the wind. But there were still indications of how upset and worried he was; the tense muscles and clenched fists. Below his skin, his bugs skittered to and fro in unrest.

For some reason, his plan went wrong. Earlier, when he had heard Xion's advice about their opponent's expertise in illusions, he had planted some of his female bugs on his teammates, just in case. But now, his bugs were confused, trying to find the scent that the planted bugs gave off and unable to.

He was about to send out more of his hoard when something strange happened.

* * *

><p>"Huh?" Xion said, blinking in disbelief.<p>

On the screen before the group, the destroyed land of Destiny Islands seemed to flicker for a while before something happened. It started to rain.

"But," the replica said confusedly. "It didn't rain when the Heartless took over."

Kakashi's eye narrowed in thought. "Xion," he said, making her turn to him. "Didn't you say that their opponent, Zexion, was a master of illusion?"

Xion blinked at him. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with the sudden rain?"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. "The rain itself could be an illusion. Maybe even what we're seeing on the monitor is an illusion itself and that's why we can't see our friends."

"Nor the enemy." Sai added in.

Xion's eyes widened slightly in realization. "You're right!" she then turned back to the computer and began messing with the controls. "Maybe I can bypass it with the computer. It'll probably take a while though; I don't much about computers myself." she explained as she continued to type away on the keyboard.

Naruto bit his lip as he turned back to the monitor. Added to the rain were flashes of lightning and the sky seemed to have grown dimmer, making the whole scene look ominous.

"Hinata. . . " he thought worriedly but determinedly. "Kiba. . . Shino. . . Stay strong and you'll all make it through this."

* * *

><p>Back in the arena. . .<p>

The storm had intensified. Lightning flashed purple and white and the clouds darkened, making the flashes almost blinding. The thunder roared in their ears and the winds picked up. But that was the least of Team 8's worries.

The rain. The rain hurt.

At first, it simply poured, drenching their clothes and making the ground mucky as it wet the sand underneath them. But in a split second, the rain changed to something else. It was no longer a bunch of drops of water. They stung like needles, seeming to pierce into their very skins. Thin paper-cuts appeared on whatever flesh was left exposed to the elements. The rain wasn't a numbing cold to soothe the stings, but not too warm either. The winds still whipped the sands around, getting the particles into the cuts and making them sting even more.

By now, puddles began to form on the piece of broken land. Whatever trees still standing groaned in the winds and swayed dangerously, threatening to fall over. The remains of the bridge creaked and some of its planks cracked, but it didn't fall off. . . yet.

Suddenly, streams of data appeared in front of each of the members of Team 8. They congregated and their opponent appeared. He looked young with his short stature and half of his face was hidden underneath a veil of sleet-blue bangs that reached to just passed his chin. The winds made his hair flutter slightly and his Organization coat whipped to and fro. Both became damp in the rain, but either than those, he looked to be unaffected by the elements and destruction around them.

The visible eye, a dark blue, was staring at them critically and he had a smirk on his face.

* * *

><p>Back in the Cavern. . .<p>

Xion was still typing away at the computer when suddenly, the screen above flickered. Static filled it for a moment before it went back to normal, showing the broken island with a noticeable difference.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried as his girlfriend appeared on the sand. Her hood was up as the rain pelted her body.

"Looks like I'm breaking through," Xion said in relief as she looked back up to the screen with a smile.

"Wait, where are Kiba and Shino?" Ino said worriedly, noticing that the Hyuga heiress was all alone on that piece of land.

"Must still be the illusion," Xion said before turning back to the keyboard and typing away at it. "Geez, I feel like Cid with all this typing. . ." she thought, sweat-dropping slightly.

The others watched as, in a stream of data, the sixth member of Organization XIII appeared.

* * *

><p>Back in the arena with Hinata. . . .<p>

Hinata quickly summoned her keyblade as soon as Zexion appeared. She glared at the cloaked member and assumed her battle stance.

"Now, now. Must we resort to violence?" The Cloaked Schemer calmly said, his voice strangely loud enough to be heard over the storm and his hands up in a pacifying gesture.

* * *

><p>Kiba slowly lowered his guard and Akamaru began to relax as well. But the kunai was still in his hand and his partner's fangs were still bared at the Organization member.<p>

They glared at the Nobody. "Where are Hinata and Shino? What did you do to them?!" he shouted over the storm angrily.

* * *

><p>"Your friends are on other pieces of land; beyond the storm and hidden by the clouds." Zexion answered, the dark smirk having vanished into an emotionless face.<p>

Shino lifted a hand to push his sunglasses back up his nose, it having slipped a little from the rain. "Alright," he said quietly, unseen by the scarf covering his mouth and unheard by the storm around them.

A bolt of lightning flashed by, illuminating the world around the combatants and nearly blinding them. A streamlined sound whipped through the air as a kunai streaked towards the illusionist. . .

* * *

><p>. . . who promptly faded into black dust like the Heartless as soon as the kunai made contact.<p>

"What the-?" Kiba yelled in surprise, Akamaru growling next to him.

"How deplorable. What did I say about violence?" a dark and ominous voice sounded, seemingly to come from everywhere around them.

Kiba and Akamaru only had a split second to dodge the lightning strike. It crashed into the ground, blowing more sand into the air and adding it to the gale.

* * *

><p>Hinata lifted an arm to her head, trying to shield her face from the stinging elements, added by the recently thrown up sand. She was thankful that she was quick enough to dodge that lightning strike, but it wasn't over. The wind had picked up, and she had to either dodge or throw up a Reflect spell against the incoming debris that had been taken up by the storm.<p>

She spun around and looked everywhere, trying to locate the illusionist with her Byakugan eyes. Nothing.

A palm tree, uprooted by the force of the storm, came her way and she ducked under it. She quickly threw a Reflect spell around herself when she noticed the planks of wood flying towards her. They bounced harmlessly off and continued to be thrown around by they winds.

"Relying on magic again, are we?" Zexion's voice sounded again, followed immediately by a boom of thunder. "But then again, you always were the weakest of the bunch. . . . especially to your clan."

* * *

><p>"You bastard!" Naruto shouted angrily as he heard what the Cloaked Schemer said. "Hinata's one of the strongest people I know!"<p>

"That's right!" Sakura agreed, even though they all knew that neither combatant could hear them.

* * *

><p>"I have heard that your cousin knows and can execute all the clan's secret techniques," the Cloaked Schemer continued. "And what of you? You can barely perform the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation. At least, not without exhausting yourself afterwards," he added as though in afterthought.<p>

Hinata was running around, leaping and ducking to avoid flying debris. She faltered mid-step when he mentioned Neji and paid dearly when a plank smacked the back of her head. She fell to the ground, managing to catch herself on her forearms to avoid a face-plant.

Lightning flashed and she saw a shadow looming over her rapidly. She quickly rolled out of the way as a tree fell where she once was, throwing more sand into the air. She rolled back to her feet and threw up a Reflect spell to shield herself from the lightning strike.

"You can't even save your cousin," Zexion sneered. "And you call yourself a Keyblade Master."

"So what?!" Hinata yelled into the winds. "I've still got my friends and they'll help me get Neji back! And Sasuke too!"

"Ah, but you must remember," the Cloaked Schemer continued, as though he didn't even hear the heiress' protest. "If you hadn't been able to summon that keyblade, you wouldn't have been able to beat him. His defeat is what drove him to the Darkness. And all because of YOU!"

Hinata froze, pearl orbs widening in horror. In her mind's eye, she saw the humiliation and anger in Neji's eyes before falling unconscious. To be beaten by someone who was clearly weaker than himself; and in front of the Hokage! Her mind turned over what the illusionist said; the facts he provided and made her realize.

"It's true. . ." she thought despairingly. If she hadn't had beaten Neji, he wouldn't have been so tempted by the Darkness, by Ansem. It was all her fault!

Tears began to gather at the edges of her eyes but were quickly swept away by the rain and winds. She continued to dodge the flying debris, but halfheartedly and was getting more scratched up

"Shall we see what would have happened if you had lost? If you had not summoned the Keyblade?" the voice asked.

* * *

><p>Outside, the screen flickered. It was soon filled with dark grey static.<p>

"Huh? What's going on?!" Tenten cried in distress.

"I don't know!" Xion answered as she continued to type away at the computer.

Everyone behind her was clearly in a state of distress and anger; worry for their friends and anger at the illusionist. Naruto seemed the most agitated, glaring angrily at the portal where his girlfriend and her teammates had disappeared into. His eyes were narrowed and fox-red with slit pupils.

"I think I've got something!" Xion called and everyone turned their attention back to the monitor.

The static-filled screen flickered and an image began to form. They were once more seeing the broken island, full of wind and rain and lightning. But instead of Hinata, there was someone else.

* * *

><p>Kiba and Akamaru ran around the piece of land, throwing up wet sand in their wake. They leaped, they ducked, they rolled and they slid as they dodged as much debris and lightning strikes as they could.<p>

"So what if we weren't able to bring Sasuke back?!" he yelled indignantly, Akamaru running beside him. "That's why we're here! To train! To get stronger so that we can bring him back next time!"

Akamaru barked next to him before having to leap above a fallen tree trunk. "And Neji, too!" Kiba added in as he, too, jumped over the trunk before it was lifted away into the winds.

"But you weren't able to defeat either Ukon and Sakon. They survived and they severely injured your partner, did they not?" the (very annoying) voice asked. "You both had to be saved by one of the Sand shinobi."

Kiba grit his teeth and Akamaru growled. "So?! They're our friends! We would have done the same thing, too!"

"Your dog was gravely injured, no? If you had been stronger, then he would haven't had suffered so. Ripped tendons in all four of his limbs? And all you received were simple lacerations. How could you have let that happened? And he was only a young puppy at the time, too." Zexion droned on, voice tinged in what sounded like sadness and disappointment.

Kiba grit his teeth to keep himself from crying out in agitation and distress. Guilt and despair settled deep within his heart at the illusionist's words. He remembered seeing the nindog lying in a heap on the ground after he had escaped Ukon and Sakon. He had nearly cried out in relief when the vet said that Akamaru was going to survive from such injuries. But when his sister told him the severity of the nindog's injuries, he couldn't stop the guilt; especially when he compared his own injuries to that of his partner's.

He was let off easy. It was Akamaru that suffered greatly so in that battle.

It was getting harder and harder to dodge the debris. He wasn't sure if the water on his cheeks were from the rain. . . . . or from the tears that had escaped. Akamaru, sensing his partner's grief, kept ever closer to him.

"Your clan must be so disappointed in you to have let it happen," the sixth member said.

* * *

><p>"This guy," Naruto growled. "He's horrible."<p>

Everyone else around him in the cavern couldn't have agreed more. Fists were clenched and all eyes, narrowed or otherwise, were glaring up at the screen.

* * *

><p>"The Inuzuka clan is not only known for their advanced sense of smell and other enhanced senses, but also for their teamwork with their canine partner. They can understand them like no other and in turn, their partner's are extremely loyal to their human," the Cloaked Schemer said.<p>

"You have failed not only in the mission, but to the clan as well," Zexion sneered. "Do you know why you had the less severe injuries compared to your partner?"

Kiba didn't answer, too busy sliding under the a large piece of what looked like the leftover roof of a hut. Beside him, Akamaru dodged to the side before regrouping with him.

"He was protecting you. If you hadn't been so weak, if you had been more attentive, then you could have dodged the strike from your opponents. But, no. Because of your foolishness, Akamaru was left severely wounded, with little hope to recover. It's all YOUR fault!" the voice, that annoying and ominous voice, spat in disgust.

A gigantic flash of lightning struck the center of the island piece, illuminating the world in bright purple and white, blinding everyone. The following thunder drowned out all other noise.

* * *

><p>Back in the cavern. . .<p>

The moment the lightning struck the island, everyone covered their eyes from the flash that lit up the whole cavern. At first, they thought that they were being transported to see another vision. But the sound of static countered that assumption.

Blinking the spots out of their eyes, they looked up to see that grey static had once more filled the screen.

Tenten let out a groan of frustration. "Ugh, not again!" she cried out angrily.

Xion was tapping furiously at the computer, trying everything she could think of. She tried to recreate the same coding like before, but it wasn't working. Frustrated, she slammed her hands on the keyboard.

The screen suddenly flickered like before. It was slower this time, but the image recreated itself and everyone's attention was once more redirected to it.

* * *

><p>Shino was in a bind and he knew it. He couldn't send out his bugs, one of his greatest assets, because the rain and wind would just blow them away or pierce them. He was also beginning to feel tired from running and moving around so much.<p>

He rolled away from a lightning strike and was soon back to his feet before running again.

"It is no wonder that you weren't chosen to go on the Sasuke retrieval mission," Zexion said after a long period of silence, excluding the sounds of the storm. "You're not very helpful, are you?"

Shino stayed silent except for a grunt or two as a stray stick or plank of wood managed to hit him. He kept to his feet, though and didn't stop moving.

"Ah, but maybe you could have helped your friends somehow," the Cloaked Schemer said in contemplation. "Perhaps helped Kiba and Akamaru from sustaining those severe injuries. Or maybe even help Hinata in her trauma at the revelation about Neji."

Shino looked as emotionless as ever, though stained in sweat, rain, and fatigue. But inside, he was frustrated. He trusted Shikamaru's judgment, the boy was a genius after all, but still. . . . . it aggravated him to no end that he couldn't have helped somehow.

"But then again, you aren't exactly a people-person," Zexion continued as Shino quickly leaped away from another lightning strike. "Ironic, no? You, whose insects rely heavily on teamwork and cooperation, can barely get along with his own teammates, much less comfort them."

Leap left. Roll. Jump then sidestep. Leap right, run before jumping again. Bend and duck.

Shino continued to pour his attention to the debris, to dodging. Trying to focus more on surviving than the ravaging frustration in his heart.

He knew he was rather anti-social. Hinata was once as anti-social as him because of her shy nature, but ever since beating Neji, her confidence has grown in leaps and bounds. Kiba had matured over the years, but was still his confident, friendly self.

But what of him? He still had his 'nitpick' attitude. He still got into arguments with Kiba, though not as much anymore. He was still awkward in comforting others whenever the situation called for it.

Except for differences that were too subtle to take note of, he hadn't changed. He hadn't changed at all.

"It must have been traumatizing for her to find out that her own blood, her cousin, had turned traitor and is so set on killing her," Zexion's voice said. "It was given for Naruto to be the one to comfort her greatly. Their affections for each other are strong. But what of you? You're her teammate. You had spent lots of time with her during training and missions; how well do you actually know her to help her? To comfort her?"

"How well do they actually know you?"

* * *

><p>"Oh, come on!" Ino yelled indignantly. "What the heck is wrong with this thing?"<p>

"Damn it all!" Naruto snarled.

Everyone else were also agitated and frustrated with this turn of events. Even Kakashi and Sai, though it was harder to see because of their blank faces. It was clear that though the Cloaked Schemer looked harmless, he was not to be messed with or underestimated.

"If that's just the first of the remaining six," Sai stated. "Then they truly are powerful."

"Yeah. . ." Tenten agreed.

Sakura bit her lip, green eyes brimming with worry. "Do you think we can defeat the rest of them?" she asked Kakashi.

Before he could reply, however, Naruto interrupted. "Of course we can!" he said reassuringly, though his clear blue eyes were also full of anxiety and a tinge of fear. "Besides," he added as he looked back to the static-filled screen. "There's no way that Hinata and the others will let this jerk stop them! They won't give up! I know it!"

Xion was typing furiously at the keyboard. She slammed her hands on the keyboard once or twice to see if she could reproduce the same results as before, but it wasn't working. She also didn't want to risk breaking the computer and, therefore, their only visual aid in seeing what was happening with their friends; even if they couldn't see anything. . . yet.

She was sorely tempted to copy what Roxas did with the data Old Mansion's computer and take a literal whack at the machine with her keyblades.

She heard the last few words Naruto said and smiled. "That's right," she thought. "Hinata's changed over the few years and I know she'll never give up. And I think you helped, too, Naruto."

Suddenly, a strange whirring sound filled the air above the quiet murmur of the Konoha shinobi. Everyone looked around for the source of the noise, muscles tensing in case it was an attack of some sort.

"Huh?" Choji said as he caught the sight of something from the side of the computer.

All attention went to the computer. Blue electrical sparks climbed the sides of it and the static on the screen was replaced in a solid, blue glow. If Cid were there, he would call it the 'Blue Screen of Death,' but it wasn't because instead of the bright blue, it was ten shades darker.

Suddenly, the whole computer itself flashed the same dark blue, causing everyone to blink or flinch away for a moment. Looking back after blinking the spots away, they saw that dark blue sparks flew from the computer to land harmlessly on the ground. The whirring sound got louder and to their startled amazement, parts of the computer began to move.

The arms containing two other monitors began to rotate to the front where the keyboard was. The frontal monitor moved inward slightly and the other two monitors moved next to it while seeming to expand at the same time. With a final, mechanized clang, the other two monitors locked themselves next to the main monitor, one on each side.

The blue glow on the now three-screen computer started to fade away. Once more, there was the sight and sound of static. But those, too, began to fade as images began to form on each of the three monitors.

The image of the dark and desolate piece of Destiny Islands greeted them, but what made some of them gasp was the sight of who was on it.

"Hinata, Kiba, Shino!" Naruto yelled in anxiety; for indeed, their friends were depicted on the monitors. But there was something, or many things, wrong with the images.

Firstly, they still didn't appear to be on the same space. The monitors each show the same area of the broken piece of land as though copied the same image onto each monitor. But the only difference between each one was that there was a different member(s) of Team 8 in each scene. Hinata was in the middle, Shino to the right, and Kiba on the left monitor.

Secondly, there appeared to be a dark, transparent form of Zexion in front of each member of Team 8. He appeared to have been injured slightly, holding his stomach and patting out something on one of his shoulders. A slight puff of smoke followed after each pat as though his shoulder was hit with a small flame.

Finally and the most worrisome, was how each of their friends looked. A clear liquid streamed down their cheeks, but it was hard to tell if they were just from the rain. . . or from tears.

In the middle monitor, Hinata's legs were folded beneath her and her hands were clenching the sand on either side. Even though her hood had fallen off, her head was bowed and her bangs hid most of her expression, especially her eyes. But they could see that she was biting her bottom lip as though to keep herself from saying, or sobbing, something. It hard to tell with the constant movement of the storm, but they could see that her shoulders were shaking.

To the right, Shino looked to be in a better state than the Hyuga heiress. But not by much. He was still standing, but stiffly so and his own shoulders drooped as though in utter defeat. The sunglasses and scarf hid most of his face away, but his fists were clenched to his sides and there seemed to be a bit of blood leaking between the fingers, only to be washed away by the rain. The flashes from the lightning only made the streams on his face more prominent.

Kiba and Akamaru were nearly altogether different from the images of their teammates on the left monitor. Kiba was on his hands and knees, head bowed so most of his face was unseen from the overhead camera. But his whole body was shaking and wet sand toppled from between his fingers as he fisted the ground beneath him.

Before him, Akamaru was barking maddeningly at both the faded form of Zexion and at his own partner.

Everyone was in a state of shock and horror. One thing, one question, ran through their minds:

What happened?

* * *

><p>~*flashback*~<p>

Shino brought an arm to his face and buried his mouth into his scarf to shield himself from a huge gust of soaked sand. A flash of lightning, close but thankfully not striking him, further blinded him and the following boom of thunder rattled his ears.

For a while, he couldn't hear anything. He had to rely only on his sight to dodge the debris and lightning strikes. But sound gradually returned and he was half-relieved and half-suspicious that Zexion had fallen silent. There was nothing but the storm and his own panting breaths.

Suddenly, a piercing howl filled the air, louder than the winds and thunder. Shino froze and watched in horror, mouth dropping, as something big, pale, and red fell from the sky above, pass the edges of his broken piece of land. A dark blur closely followed after it, positioned straight like an arrow or a kunai.

He recognized them. Fucking hell, he knew them. The pale blur was Akamaru, falling freely and nearly unrecognizable with all that blood, seemingly dead. The other figure was Kiba, who had his arms straight out in front of him, hands reaching for his beloved partner and eyes wide in desperation despite the tears. He, too, was badly injured with numerous cuts and tears on his body, even through the clothes.

A final, bright blur streaked through the air towards the two partners, ripping his attention away from the horrifying sight. It was Hinata, also bloody and injured, and she was crying, but with desperately determined eyes. She was riding her Keyblade Rider and racing to Akamaru and Kiba, who had finally reached the nindog and wrapped his arms around the blood soaked, furry neck.

But before Hinata could reach them, a lightning struck her Rider, causing it crash into the broken piece of land and then flash. It returned to its regular Keyblade form and because of the momentum and speed of the crash landing, was thrown far away and off the edge.

That flash broke Shino out of his horrified trance. He ran as fast he could to the edge after Hinata, who had quickly gotten up and raced to the edge herself. She stopped before she could fall off and, on her hands and knees now, reached an arm out to her comrades.

There was too much distance. They were too far away. They could only watch as both teammates fell far past the edge of the island piece.

Shino reached the edge by that time and stared in numb horror as his two closest friends disappeared beneath the clouds. A lightning bolt flashed in front of his sight and they were gone; lost to the depths of the storm and the dark sea far below.

He could barely hear anything now, so numb was he. Not the storm. Not the thunder. Not even Hinata as she sobbed her heart out.

Another flash of lightning, but it was brighter than ever before. He shut his eyes against the light and suddenly the storm seemed to have disappeared. Opening them, he saw that he and Hinata were back in the Cavern. He looked around hopefully, but Kiba and Akamaru were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, everyone crowded around Hinata. Naruto had his arms wrapped tightly around her and she sobbed with her face in his chest. All around, everyone offered their sorrow and some, like Sakura, were crying with her. They were all trying to comfort her.

But not him. He was ignored. No one came to him. He was still numb to almost everything around him as the horrifying reality of having lost a dear friend slammed into him. After that quick look around, his eyes remained trained on the ground below him. Everything around him seemed to have faded away.

Well, almost everything. Hinata's heart wrenching sobs echoed in his ears, louder than ever before. The sounds resonated in his heart, adding to the pain already set there.

"See?" a voice in his head sneered. "You just stood by as they fell. And here you are again; standing by. That guy was right. You can't even bring yourself to comfort her."

It was true. He could have saved them; send out a huge swarm, probably all of his hoard, to capture them like a cloud. He had enough. But, no. He just watched it all and he was doing it again! Watching!

He needed to comfort her. He should comfort her. She was in a worse condition than he was; AT LEAST SHE TRIED! To see her attempt to rescue them fail must of been, in fact was, traumatizing. Why wasn't he there? What was he doing here? He had to get over there! He had to comfort her! He had to!

He released a shaky breath and shuddered, still unnoticed by everyone else, even the sharp-eyed Kakashi. But before he could take a single step, the whole world around him flickered and wavered.

Static filled his vision for a brief second, but it was enough. Because in that split second, he realized just how badly he had been played the fool.

* * *

><p>Zexion suddenly vanished. Hinata tensed, readying herself in case of an offensive strike. But instead, the world around her wavered before, with a flash, it changed completely.<p>

She looked around, Byakugan activated. She then realized that she was just outside the stadium for the third and final part of the Chunin exams, the one after the preliminaries. Before her was the gate that would lead to the inside arena.

She suddenly whipped around at the sound of running. Running towards her was a pair of young boys, one of the locals. She began to sidestep out of their way when a familiar voice filled the air. "You don't have to do that, you know. . ." Zexion said.

Hinata froze midstep and the her pale eyes widened at what happened next. The two young boys ran right through her like air. It was as if she wasn't there at all. Like she was a ghost.

She watched in shock as the boys continued on their way, not giving her any glance or notice. Suddenly, she heard a great cheer from inside the stadium.

"Why not take a look?" Zexion asked. "It sounds like the tournament is about to start."

"It could be a trap," was her first thought. That was reasonable enough; he was a master of illusions after all and because this was an illusion itself, who knew what dangers lurked?

"But he hasn't lied so far, right?" was her next thought. She remembered what he said earlier; of how it was her fault that Neji had turned to the darkness. And she believed it. That dark aura she had seen surrounding her cousin looked more like a dark grey now that she thought about it.

It was also her fault that Neji had become so dark at all. Because she was the heiress of a powerful clan, she was a valuable target. When a ninja from Kumogakure, her father had killed the kidnapper. But because Konoha had signed a peace treaty with that village earlier, her uncle, Hizashi, had been sent in place of her own father to stop a war. Hizashi was Neji's father and losing him was no doubt traumatizing enough for him to be so cold, especially to her.

And besides all that, she was curious. What would have happened, had she lost? With her defeat, what would have Neji done?

She gulped and then mustered her courage. She would never know until she found out herself. She took a deep breath and entered the gate.

Hinata blinked as she found herself inside the arena. She watched in shock as her boyfriend, Naruto, and Neji faced each other down. Genma was also there, standing between the two.

"This truly is a vision," she thought. Naruto and Neji were younger here. That dark aura around Neji was definitely a dark grey instead of the deep black and purple that she saw now.

The vision continued and she watched in shock and ever-growing grief as the match began. It was obvious that Naruto was getting beat by Neji's pure skill and genius. But what hurt the most were the words being exchanged, the argument between their different ideas of fate; of how it was inescapable to Neji and changeable to Naruto.

She admired how Naruto never gave up, continuing the fight even after it was almost declared in Neji's favor. She was further surprised to see Neji perform the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms strike and the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation, which were attacks only those of the main branch were able to perform. But then again, she should have expected it, after what Zexion said.

In the last few moments of the fight, tears streamed down her cheeks and her eyes widened in shock. Despite having all of his chakra closed off, he managed to control and use the Fox's chakra. The following, final clash created an explosion that spread smoke all around.

After the smoke cleared, the two combatants had disappeared into two craters on either side of the appearing examiner. With bated breath, Hinata watched as Neji slowly and painfully pulled himself to his feet and stumbled to the other crater. Naruto lied there, unconscious.

"Sorry," he said to Naruto's form, not sounding sorry at all. "But this is reality. You're a failure."

"This match is over!" Neji declared.

A crumbling, crunchy sound. A fist shot out of the ground followed by an orange-clad body. With a yell, Naruto gave a sharp uppercut to her cousin.

Neji laid there on the ground, unable to move. The Naruto in the crater burst into a cloud of smoke, revealing that it was a shadow clone. In the crater was a hole leading underground.

Hinata listened as Naruto told of how he failed the Graduation Exam 3 times because of nearly the same jutsu; the Clone jutsu. But now, the Shadow Clone jutsu had become his specialty.

"You can do it, too. Because unlike me, you're not a failure." Naruto finished.

Genma declared Naruto Uzumaki the winner and the crowd cheered. Hinata couldn't help herself but cheer along with them.

Suddenly, there was great flash and she shut her eyes against it. Blinking the spots away, she found herself in an infirmary. On one of the beds was Neji, lying stock still and a faraway look in his eyes.

Hinata and the two medic-nins there turned to the door as it opened. Her father, Hiashi, entered. The two medics were dismissed, though after a little protest and there were only Neji, Hiashi, and Hinata.

After they left, Neji struggled into a sitting position. Hinata listened as her father retold that day when Hizashi was killed. Neji protested and the Hyuga lord reached into his robes to pull out a scroll. He left it next to Neji, who ignored it at first. But then, his eyes widened and he picked it up, opened it, and began to read.

Unable to escape curiosity's hold, Hinata slowly walked up to them and began to read the scroll as well. What was written on there shocked her. Hizashi wrote it and revealed that he sacrificed himself to take his brother's place, who had originally accepted the position and protested against the replacement, not only for his own brother, but for his son as well. To do so, would keep the village and Neji safe.

He had done so out of his own freewill. He chose death to protect his village and his family, not the clan. He defied the clan and chose his own fate.

Hinata couldn't stop the tears from flowing, a hand to her mouth in shock as she finished reading. Beside her, Neji's shoulders shook.

She was still gazing at the scroll, but a soft gasp startled her out of her thoughts and she turned. She, too, gasped at the sight of her father, the head of the Hyuga clan, bowing with his head to the floor to Neji, a member of the Branch family. He begged for forgiveness and there was a pause that seemed to stretch across all of time.

The Hyuga prodigy finally looked away, face darkened, and told him to not bow. Another flash and Hinata found herself standing in front of the window, Neji standing next to her. All of a sudden, a voice filled her mind; her cousin's voice.

She listened in shock as Neji's views of fate changed. He was confused on what exactly the idea of fate was; but it was no longer just set in stone or like a cloud victim to the winds' currents. She stifled a gasp as Neji declared that his goal, his new goal, was to get stronger so that he wouldn't be defeated again.

But there was an underlying motive, she could feel it in her heart even if this was all just an illusion. It was like young Riku's reason to go to other worlds; to protect those he cared about.

Suddenly, the entire illusion seemed to shatter before her very eyes. She was once more standing on the broken piece of island, though her knees felt weaker.

"You see?" Zexion's voice boomed, accompanied by a flash of lightning. "You see for yourself what your foolish actions have done! If you hadn't had defeated your cousin, he wouldn't have been filled to the brim with hatred and vengeance; therefore the darkness."

That was it. She was sobbing loudly now as she broke down, tears streaming from her pearl orbs to join with the piercing rain. It was her fault. All her fault!

A lightning bolt flashed and numerous images filled her head, the following thunder unable to block out the voices that accompanied them. Images and scenes of Neji taking her place on the Sasuke Retrieval mission and how he declared that Naruto would be able to save the Uchiha from the darkness just like he did to the Hyuga prodigy; of how he made peace with her father and slowly warmed up to everyone, even her, practicing with her to improve her Gentle Fist skills; of how Tenten would joke around with him, causing him to blush, and the slight affection in both of their eyes. She even saw a scene where they were fighting off a bunch of strange humans with pure white skin, fighting together seamlessly.

"He could have changed for the better!" Zexion continued.

As the images and voices continued to pour into her mind, she gripped her head between her hands and sunk to her knees. Her cries of inner pain went unheard and her tears were lost to the storm.

Her eyes were clenched shut tight. But soon, they snapped open at a strange sound, heard over the ravaging storm and the voices. She slowly looked up and then the world around her seemed to waver. Suddenly, static filled her vision, stopping the flow of scenes.

Another flash of lightning and she saw it. It was there for less than a second, but even through the rain and tears, the image was clear.

It was a shadowy form of Zexion and he appeared to have been injured.

* * *

><p>Kiba brought an arm to his face to block out the flash. At the same time, he tried in vain to wipe away the rain that had managed to get into his eyes.<p>

He looked back up only to stare in shock. Cliffs stood tall around them, their shadows imposing; terrifying. To the side, a stream bubbled blue. The air was thick in sweat and blood.

Kiba and Akamaru were back in the canyon where they fought Sakon and Ukon.

A sudden gust blew through the canyon, followed by an explosion of smoke from up on the cliffs. Kiba and Akamaru turned to look, recognizing it as the cliff where they had fallen with the brothers. However, no figure fell from the cliffs and when the smoke blew away, it was empty.

Sudden chuckling made them spun around to in front of them. Before them was a familiar demonic-looking wall. It was one of the ultimate defenses, known as Summoning: Rashōmon. However, there was a big dent as though something big had tried to break through.

Chuckling, echoing slightly, ripped their gazes away as Kiba and Akamaru began to look around, tensing themselves further. The wall suddenly exploded in a great big cloud of smoke and a shadow-y figure could be seen. As the smoke cleared, the figure revealed itself to be Sakon and Ukon, merged into each other. They were in the second stage of the curse mark, their skin red and a horn protruding from each of their heads.

Sharp fangs stuck out over their lips as they smiled wickedly at the duo. "What are you in the mood for, brother?" One head, Sakon, said.

"Rippin' them apart," the other head, Ukon, replied.

Kiba tensed, getting ready to dodge the charge he knew they would do. Even though the wall was already summoned, who knew if they could do it again?

"But, oh," Ukon suddenly said. "Why don't we use the new power Lord Orochimaru granted us? It should make this more enjoyable."

"Oooh, good point, brother," Sakon said, his grin going wider. "I do feel like showing off."

Their already dark red skin grew darker until it was an inky black. Their hair and clothes soon followed until they became nothing more than a silhouette or a shadow. Two pairs of glowing yellow eyes glared at the duo.

Kiba's eyes widened at these change of events. He watched with a gaping mouth as the Heartless-like brothers slammed their hands to the ground and the Rashōmon wall was summoned again in a cloud of smoke. Then it, too, darkened and the brothers seemed to merge with it.

In a flash dark light, Kiba and Akamaru looked at the new form the brothers had taken. The wall was still demonic looking with big spikes protruding from the top and black chains connecting them. Like engravings or gargoyles, the brothers, separated from one solid body, were merged with the wall, one half of their bodies from a shoulder down. They have also turned more animal-looking with big, bat-like ears (colored in jagged stripes of yellow and black) and purple spiky collars encasing their whole necks. Spikes tipped in dark red protruded from what little of their backs were available. The bottom of their bodies were further integrated into the wall and had turned into wisps that overlapped each other until it separated into golden swirls. Around the waist-area were tan wraps like the robes they've worn before. Between the two figures were more claws that seemed to covering a large dent. Their arms were thick in muscles and had three fingers tipped in sharp, dark red claws. Around the each wrist was a thick, spiked, and dark red wristband and tied to each were black chains that ended in a large weight, effortlessly carried by their increased strength. They had jagged mouths and their eyes were the same unearthly yellow of the Heartless, though outlined in red.

The two brothers looked at each other before pounding fists, the chains jingling, and glaring at Kiba and Akamaru. They reared their fists back and the pair leapt away as a fissure appeared from the following punch to the ground. The pair had to keep jumping around to dodge the other shockwaves.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the Heartless-like brothers stopped, seemingly tired. By this time, Kiba and Akamaru were hidden behind two large stalagmites that barely managed to hide them. As they tried to catch their breaths, Kiba tried to think of any way to defeat their transformed opponents.

Beside him, Akamaru nudged Kiba's hand and gave a short growl. Kiba blinked out of his thoughts. "Hm? What is it? You've got an idea on how to beat this thing?" he asked.

Akamaru nodded and pointed with his muzzle to the brothers, who were looking around for them. Kiba looked closer and noticed the dent in the middle of the wall.

He smirked and turned back to his partner. "Heh, good eye buddy," he said. "It looks like that their new upgrade couldn't heal that dent. But how are we going to get past those thorns?"

Akamaru suddenly barked and Kiba looked back up to see a giant, chained weight coming his way. It was flying too fast for him to react, much less dodge.

A furry weight knocked him off his feet and out of the weight's path. Time seemed to slow down as he watched with mind-numbing horror as Akamaru, his nindog, his partner, his best friend. . .

. . . took the hit for him.

A loud, hoarse noise filled the air and it took him a while to recognize it as his own screaming. He soon got back to his feet and ran to his beloved friend, unknowingly dodging the second weight that was about to crush him.

Reaching Akamaru, he found him to be a bloody mess, nearly unrecognizable. One of his limbs at an odd angle and for a moment, he thought him to be dead. But a whimper, however soft, instantly dispelled such thoughts and Kiba drew a shaky breath. The slight rising and falling of his chest only further relieved him.

A familiar, booming voice rattled his ears. "Now look," Zexion droned. "He tried to protect him and now he's dead."

"He's not dead, you bastard!" Kiba snapped, but the illusionist only chuckled darkly.

Gritting his teeth, he turned back to his friend and instantly froze. He was no longer breathing, the chest having stopped moving. "Akamaru?" he whispered shakily, disbelieving.

"Akamaru?" he repeated louder, reaching out with a trembling hand to see if he can shake his friend awake. But his partner was stiff and didn't respond with neither whimper nor twitch of acknowledgement.

"Akamaru!?" he yelled, shaking the body with both hands. Tears poured from his eyes, but he didn't notice. Unable to accept that his best friend had died, he didn't stop trying to shake the nindog awake.

"AKAMARU!"

* * *

><p>Akamaru kept barking at his fallen partner, both paws trying to shake the teen awake. Nothing.<p>

"See?" Zexion, the hateful illusionist, sneered, "You couldn't protect him like before. You can't protect anyone."

Rage flowed through his veins and Akamaru finally, slowly stopped shaking his partner's body. He looked down, eyes shadowed and hackles raised. He barely acknowledge the sound of weights being dragged back for a second round.

Akamaru turned around, head still kept down. At the sound of echoed chuckling, that sounded more like rumbles. he snapped his head up to growl menacingly at the brothers. His jaws were hot and only getting hotter. A strange feeling began to build up in his throat.

Another sound, a third chuckle, though considerably darker. His sharp hearing quickly caught its location over the storm and the blood pumping in his ears. He turned his head in the direction of the third chuckling, who he knew to be Zexion, the real cause, and he barked loudly.

But something strange happened. The moment Akamaru barked, a fireball shot out of his jaws; an actual fireball.

The fireball was too quick and too hot to be diminished by the rain, so powered by rage and grief as it was. The fireball hit something that wasn't there before, followed by a shout of pain.

The world around the nindog was filled with static for a moment. Afterwards, he recognized that they were back on the broken piece of land. The brothers were gone, but in their place a slightly transparent shadow.

It was Zexion and he was injured.

A sudden sob caught his attention and he snapped his head to see, in amazement, that Kiba was on his hands and knees next to him. His eyes had a faraway look to them and tears streamed from them to join the rain. Akamaru quickly came to the conclusion that his partner was still trapped by the illusion. With that, he began barking at his master while also keeping an eye on the wounded illusionist.

~* end flashback*~

Kiba was sobbing loudly as he continued to shake the. . . the. . .the body of his best friend. Still, Akamaru was still and his own movements began to slow down.

But then something amazing happened. As he gave one more last shake to the fur soaked in blood, Akamaru's form seemed to flicker slightly before disappearing in numbers and static. At the same time, he felt a sharp pain on his forearm. The world around him flickered and then dissolved away in the same manner as "Akamaru."

Kiba gasped as he suddenly found himself on his hands and knees, soaked sand beneath him. His throat hurt and his eyes stung. The pain on his arm had lessened, but it still felt like something bit him.

". . .Bit. . .him. . ." Kiba's eyes widened and he quickly looked up and around. He realized that he was back on the broken piece of land. But what caught his immediate attention and set pure joy and relief in his heart was the fact that his partner, his nindog, his best friend was standing next to him, healthy and uninjured except for small scratches.

Akamaru was alive. Alive!

He couldn't stop himself as he turned and wrapped his arms around the big dog's collared neck, crying out his name. He buried his nose in his friend's fur, soaked not in blood but rain. He listened intently for the strong heartbeat and every 'thump' of the dog's big heart sent another jolt of elation and relief into his own heart.

But then Akamaru, the sound reverberating in his throat. The vibration caused Kiba to look up questionably. "Akamaru?" he said, voice hoarse and scratchy.

Akamaru wasn't looking at him but at something in front of the pair. Before he could turn to look, however, flames appeared at the edges of Akamaru's maw. He watched in amazement when Akamaru barked and a fireball was sent flying.

His wide eyes followed after it and was surprised when it hit its target, drawing a short cry of pain. It was Zexion, or at least a faded shadow of him.

* * *

><p>"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed.<p>

Everyone, even Sai and Kakashi, was amazed when Akamaru barked out a fireball at Zexion. Even though it was smaller than the Firagas they've seen Xion and Hinata cast, it was still powerful enough to injure the illusionist. Because of its small size, it was also faster, leaving no time for the sixth member to dodge.

"Looks like a simple Fire spell," Xion commented. "I bet if he practices, it could get stronger and evolve the Materia. Then he might even be able to use a Firaga spell."

"Alright!" Tenten said joyfully. "Glad I got him that collar! I've got to thank Nathan and Yuffie when all this is over."

"Go Akamaru!" Ino cheered.

"And look," Kakashi pointed out as he switched his gaze to the other screens. "Now that Zexion's concentration is broken, the other two are coming out of their own illusions."

Naruto immediately turned to the middle screen, concern for his girlfriend returning in full. Xion joined him shortly afterwards and the others split in watching the three screens between themselves.

* * *

><p>Shino kept his face to Zexion's injured form, but his eyes, hidden by his sunglasses, looked around and tried to regain his bearings. The Cavern and his friends had flickered away in a burst of static and numbers and he was back on the broken land piece. The storm raged on, but the rain had lessened somewhat.<p>

His face was stoic, but his fists were clenched in anger. Anger at the Cloaked Schemer for the illusion and at himself for falling for it.

Though it was true that he wasn't as extrovert as Kiba and now Hinata, he wasn't entirely useless. He remembered during their training sessions together that he'd offer some advice to Hinata and Kiba. Kiba didn't show it, his pride wouldn't let it, but Shino knew that he appreciated it. He had even caught him and Akamaru practicing with the advice in mind in secret when they thought he wasn't looking.

No, he wasn't useless. He also wasn't as unfriendly as some may believe. He wasn't entirely unemotional; the fading feeling of his stinging eyes and his clenched fists proved it.

With anger and confidence, he brought out a kunai and widened his stance. Time to prove to this bastard that he wasn't one to be messed with.

* * *

><p>Hinata glared through the rain and her tears at the faded shadow of her foe. Her hair whipped around in the wind, but she ignored it, even when some of her bangs got in the way of her eyes.<p>

Her heart still felt heavy, but there was a fire burning within it. After seeing those visions, she felt even more determined to save Neji and Sasuke. If that's what could have happened had Neji turned to the light, then she could just imagine what Neji could be like if he returned to the light now. And Sasuke, too!

Sniffling from the aftermaths of her sobs, she climbed back to her feet. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned her keyblade and slid into her stance, Byakugan activated.

The shade in front of her suddenly cried out in pain. Zexion immediately placed a hand on his shoulder as though it would lessen the pain. Though it was faint, she could see a flickering flame on that shoulder.

But it couldn't have come from nowhere. Hinata's eyes widened and a smile graced her lips. "Shino. . . Kiba. . . Akamaru. . ." she thought happily.

As the illusionist began to pat out the fire, Hinata took this chance and charged at him. She took a swipe at him, but unfortunately, Zexion looked up in time to dodge out of the way.

"Infuriating brats!" he spat as the flame was finally snuffed out by the pouring rain.

He raised a hand to the sky and his shadowy form darkened and expanded until it was a solid black blob. Then, it separated into two blobs that soon took on Zexion's form, though without mouths and eyes. A flash of lightning and each form summoned in a black burst a thick book. Held on the forearm and kept open by the same arm's hand, the shades (Hinata decided to call them shades so as to not mix them up with the Shadow Clone Jutsu) each waved a hand out menacingly to their opponent.

One of the shades, the one to her left, brought his book close to him and swiped a hand over it, sending a page coated in darkness at her. She tried to dodge, but-

* * *

><p>Shino narrowed his eyes as he saw that the kunai he threw only grazed one of the shades' arm. He had to dodge out of the way of that shade's following charge before jumping away from a lightning strike.<p>

He turned his attention to the other shade but widened his eyes. "Where-?" he couldn't finish that thought as the missing shade suddenly appeared in front of him and slammed its book into his chin, sending him flying.

* * *

><p>Kiba smirked as he punched the shade away. Behind him, Akamaru had sent a fireball at the other Zexion shade, who dodged and raised a hand to the air. Moments later, lightning flashed and Akamaru narrowly dodged it.<p>

He turned his attention to the other shade, which had gotten up. It quickly thrust its hand out and Kiba dodged the fireball that followed.

However, before he could counteract, he felt a series of stinging and sharp pains on his back. The shade that Akamaru had fought had sent a flurry of pages to him, though it didn't tear through his clothes.

He quickly turned around after it was over and leapt at the shade. "Fang Passing Fang!" he yelled as he spun toward the shade that had attacked him. Akamaru copied and spun towards the other shade.

* * *

><p>Hinata slashed at the back of one of the shades. She leapt back to take a quick breather, but gasped in surprise at what happened next. A whirlwind of pages spun around the shade until it disappeared from view. The same was happening with the other shade and both tornadoes lunged toward her. She thankfully dodged just in time and she looked back with a curious eye.<p>

That attack looked awfully familiar. . .

Suddenly Zexion voice filled the air, over the raging storm. "So you're going to deny it? Deny the truth that it was your fault that Neji turned to the darkness? I wonder what will happen if Naruto knew." he seemed to contemplate. "He would no doubt be angry at you. Probably even leave you."

* * *

><p>"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM HINATA! I WOULD NEVER HURT YOU LIKE THAT!" Naruto yelled at the screen.<p>

"This guy. . ." Sakura said as she clenched her fist.

"Hinata. . .I don't blame you for what happened to Neji." Tenten muttered as Lee nodded in agreement. "Even though we tried to be nice to him. . .he was always cold to us."

"Hinata. . ." Xion muttered.

Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Sai were looking between the fights critically. Shikamaru turned to the Jonin. "Kakashi. Do you see this?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah," he answered. "Though they look a little different, these shades are using the same attacks. I think that they're fighting each other."

The lazy genius nodded in agreement. "Troublesome. And he combined Kiba and Akamaru so it would be difficult to notice. . ." he said.

"This guy's a real piece of work," he thought with narrowed eyes. His gaze kept switching between the three screens.

Sai stayed silent and looked on at the fights, face blank.

* * *

><p>Shino dodged out of the way of the twin tornado attacks. The familiarity of the tornadoes helped him figure out what kind of game the illusionist was playing.<p>

These shades. . . they actually represented his friends and even copied their attacks, but not completely. Though Zexion was injured, he hadn't escaped the illusion yet. And no doubt that his teammates were also still under the Cloaked Schemer's influence.

"So stoic," Zexion's voice said. "The others must be uncomfortable with you, what with your attitude. Why, you've probably never even laughed or had fun before."

Shino dodged out of the way of a lightning strike summoned by one of the shades, one that he suspects represented Hinata. He glared at the sky. "That's not true," he said. "Even if it was forced through a drug, I have laughed. Naruto was there, so he can vouch for me about that incident. I even had a little fun near the end. . ." he finished quietly, unheard over the storm.

* * *

><p>"Oh yeah, I remember that mission!" Naruto exclaimed.<p>

"You actually heard Shino laugh!?" Everyone except Kakashi, Sai, Shikamaru and Xion said.

Xion gave them all an odd look. "What do you mean?"

"It's a long story." Naruto said.

"Let's just say that no one, and I mean no one, has heard Shino laugh before. . ." Kakashi explained.

Xion only gave them all a weird look before turning back to the screen.

* * *

><p>Kiba leaped away from a lightning strike called upon by the Zexion shade. Using the flash, Akamaru attacked from behind the other shade and preceded to bite it, but he missed due to that shade dodging. The shade that Kiba was fighting joined up with the other one and they released a large fireball at the duo. They quickly dodged it and leaped away to widen the distance to figure out a new strategy.<p>

So far, they hadn't been able to make much progress. The rain had become more of a drizzle now, but their sense of smell was still damp and effectively useless. When he tried to counter the rain by pouring chakra into his nose to better amplify it, he smelled the scents of his other teammates, Hinata and Shino, on the shades.

"Humph," he thought with a scoff. "As if we would fall for that trick!"

But he was getting tired and so was Akamaru. They could only keep this up for so long. They couldn't risk using the Two-Headed Wolf jutsu because the rain would just dampen their sense of smell and they needed that sense for them to attack in that form.

His thoughts were interrupted by the real Zexion's voice. "Have you given up?" he asked with a mocking tone. "No surprise. After all, we wouldn't want to risk your dear friend's life again."

"Shut up!" Kiba yelled out to the sky. Akamaru barked beside him.

"Oh, but then again," Zexion continued, ignoring Kiba's cry of outrage. "He is also a great danger to your village, is he not? He turned berserk and attacked innocent civilians and shinobi. . . even you. In fact, he nearly killed you."

"It was only because of an infection!" Kiba retorted. "We were able to cure him though! And I don't care if he attacks me! He's my best friend, I'd never abandon him!"

Zexion only chuckled, infuriating Kiba further. "Akamaru, let's-" he stopped when he turned to his best friend, whose tail was drooping and appeared to be sad and ashamed.

At this, Kiba was in a rage and charged at the shades, who were simply standing there at the time. With one hand, they opened their books to the sky and pages began to whirlwind around them. Just as a sphere of the paper was formed around the shades, Kiba jumped and attacked with Fang Over Fang, but was stopped by the paper. He was about to land back on the ground when the sphere of paper suddenly pulsed and a dark shockwave was sent out. He was thrown back and fell on his back in front of Akamaru, who quickly came up to him and licked his cheek.

Kiba got back up to stare in shock at the paper barrier as it collapsed. That counter-attack. . .It was so familiar; especially that shockwave.

* * *

><p>"Kiba. . .don't wildly just attack him," Kakashi muttered.<p>

"Did all that stuff actually happen to them?" Sai asked, a bit curious.

Kakashi sighed. "Let's just say Kiba's laying it on lightly," he replied. Sai looked a little confused at this, but he shrugged it off and turned back to the fight.

"Kiba. . . Akamaru," Xion, who had overheard the short exchange, thought. Her concern for her friends was growing and she bit her lip as she continued to watch.

* * *

><p>Hinata pulled back down her Reflect spell after the shockwave threw back the attacking shade. She looked on curiously as both shades simply stood there, the other having gotten back up after being thrown onto its back.<p>

Again, she recalled the familiarity of the shade's attack. It greatly resembled Kiba's Fang Over Fang, but with swirling pages and a dark blue aura. But why? Was Zexion trying to gain an advantage by surprising and confusing her by using attacks that greatly resembled her teammates' own attacks? If that was the plan, she reluctantly agreed that it was working so far.

One of the shades spread its arms and its book opened up to the sky in front of it. The book flipped its pages quickly and small slips of paper flew out. Hinata prepared herself for an attack, but was shocked at what happened next.

"What?!"

* * *

><p>Kiba narrowed his eyes in suspicion and Akamaru growled beside him, hackles rising. In front of them, one of the shades had spread its arms and slips of paper flew out of the floating book.<p>

The pieces flew through the air, wavering in the wind but not completely blown away in it. They began to gather in front of the pair of shades, just in the middle between the two groups. Kiba and Akamaru tensed further as a low-lying figure began to from the slips of paper.

When the figure finished forming, Kiba can only gape in shock at it.

"What?!"

* * *

><p>Shino smirked at the sound of Zexion's shocked shout. In front of him, the shades were completely still, their books held closed on their sides. But the manner of interest was the figure Shino had his bugs form in between the opposing sides.<p>

It was a bug. But not just any bug, a familiar bug. It was a medium-sized version of the Bikōchū, an insect that could remember the first scent it detects after metamorphosis.

Shino was confident that his teammates would recognize it. After all, they and Naruto gone on mission during the week Xion had gone to make the preparations for this training trip. It was to retrieve this very insect in the hopes that it would find and follow the scents of either Sasuke or Neji. Even though the mission ended in a failure courtesy of Naruto, they had shown great teamwork together.

He was rewarded when the shades froze completely. Their forms began to waver dangerously. The storm also lessened until the rain disappeared completely. Shino smirked further at the cry of horrified pain that accompanied it.

"Ugh!" Zexion faded in, to Shino's far left and near the edge of the piece of land. On the hems of his cloak were Shino's bugs, not as much as those that were used to form the Bikōchū, but enough to cause damage. He still needed to create and breed insects that could drain magic, but simply causing blood loss and bug bites would have to do.

"You!" The illusionist shouted angrily. "What did you do?!"

"Simple," Shino replied, recalling the insects that had formed the Bikōchū back into his body. "Every time I hit the ground as I dodged, I sent some of my bugs underground. The impacts loosened the ground enough for them to go through and because this is sand, the holes they made were filled back in and no longer visible; leaving no evidence."

The shades leaped next to him, but the bug-user didn't panic. Instead, he smiled as their dark forms finally shattered and his teammates, his friends, stood beside him. Team 8 stood ready and willing to defeat this opponent.

* * *

><p>"Alright!" Xion said excitedly at seeing the illusion finally shattering, the other two screens showing only static. "Great job Shino! Now you guys can finish him off."<p>

"Take that bastard down!" Naruto yelled as Choji and Lee cheered them on.

"Prove him wrong on everything he said!" Tenten said as Ino nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Zexion glared at the team angrily. With a flick of his wrist, his own tome, the lexicon known as The Book of Retribution, appeared in his hand and he held it close in front of him while keeping his other hand idle by his side. Out of the shadows, three clones of himself were created, their own books held ready.<p>

"Heh," Kiba smirked as he stood ready with Akamaru beside him. "Good job on that insect. I almost forgot on what we went through to get that thing."

"Thanks Shino," Hinata said with a small smile before turning to glare at the sixth member. "But let's take this guy down."

"Right," Shino nodded. "My bugs should make his illusions useless now. But please don't kill off all of them; I still need them."

"Then let's go!" Kiba shouted before charging at the illusionist. He and Akamaru performed a Twin Fang Over Fang while Hinata rushed to sneak up from behind.

"See my illusion!" Zexion cried before any of them could strike.

All four Zexion's opened up their books to them and a sphere of darkness was created in the center of the battlefield. They began to rotate around it, leaving afterimages. As the enemies' rotation sped up, beams of energy began to enter the sphere.

Team 8 stood their ground at the force that was trying to pull them in to the sphere. It felt like their energy was being drained as well. Shino watched in shock as his bugs, which had been still attached to the original Cloaked Schemer, were mercilessly dragged into the sphere and disappearing in it.

"Take this!" Zexion shouted, echoed by his clones.

In a wave of light, the dark sphere burst. The bright pulse hit all of them, knocking them off of their feet. The light faded away and just as they were about to get back up, they were struck by dark lightning, stunning them further.

"That's aught to hurt." Zexion sneered, the clones having vanished along the light. He lifted his book and opened it up to them.

Again they felt the pulling force, but couldn't resist it this time. They were dragged into the book, which promptly shut itself as Zexion laughed victoriously.

* * *

><p>"Oh no!" Naruto gasped, seeing his girlfriend and her teammates get dragged into the lexicon. "Hinata!"<p>

Everyone else watched with bated breath as the screen went dark for a second. Afterwards, they saw their friends again, seeming to stand on thin air as swirling, grey and silver wind blew around them. It looked like they were caught in the middle of a tornado or a whirlwind. Copies of the lexicon floated around them and they were looking around as though searching for something.

* * *

><p>"There!" Hinata shouted aloud as she pointed to one of the books, her Byakugan activated. She, Kiba, and Akamaru moved to attack him while Shino brought out a kunai attached with an exploding tag.<p>

The targeted book flew away before the three could take a swipe at it. But it didn't get far as a kunai struck it before shortly exploding. A dark image of Zexion appeared briefly before taking on the form of the book again.

They went after it, but the field around them grew more erratic. Books and sharp pages flew left and right, trying to hit them and lightning flashed. When they tore through one of them, they felt a shock. Some of the tomes opened to release a dark indigo meteor, creating an explosion.

Eventually, they made it to the lexicon-disguised Schemer and began to attack it. With a cry of pain, the book blew up into pages and in another flash of light, they had returned to the destroyed piece of beach. In front of them was Zexion, wounded and holding his side.

They attacked him for a while, landing hits and cuts to his cloak before the illusionist's book appeared behind them. It turned into a dark cyclone and began to pull them into the center of the field.

"You shall share your powers!" Zexion hissed.

They tried to resist the force of the cyclone, but they were still being dragged to it. The moment they touched the dark area the cyclone emitted to the ground, they felt their energy drain at an alarmingly rate. Worse yet, they can see that Zexion was using that stolen energy to heal himself. The cyclone stopped, but the pull was still there and with their energy drained they couldn't resist being pulled into the lexicon again.

This time, they were in a dark room, seeing nothing but black. Suddenly, three big red spotlights appeared around them, seeming to come from somewhere far above. In a cloud of smoke, a lexicon appeared above one of the red spots, turning it blue. They immediately ran after it, but it disappeared from that spot, making it turn red again, and appeared over another, also turning it blue. This action repeated multiple times with all three spots and Team 8 chased after it. Finally it stopped on one spot, the blue outlined in white. Kiba and Akamaru made it, but before they could leap to attack the book, cries of pain emitted from his teammates. The duo turned to see their friends getting hit by flaming orange lexicons that flew by and came from the darkness like meteors.

"Hinata! Shino!" Kiba shouted.

There was another flash of light and they were back in the chaotic area of swirling grey wind. The books were more numerous and they began to attack the team mercilessly.

Hinata found some room to lift her keyblade and cry, "Graviga!"

All of the books drifted to the gravitational sphere. With Hinata holding up the spell, the other three attacked all the books. They eventually found Zexion again and Hinata released the spell. With a slash of her keyblade, the world disappeared and they were once more back on the piece of land.

In front of the wounded illusionist, a giant version of the Book of Retribution floated, shielding him. They couldn't get past it until it was eventually destroyed by Kiba and Akamaru's Twin Fang Over Fang. Zexion awaited them, his book held ready.

"You think you can be forgiven?!" he sneered.

He floated in the air, the book open in front of him and to the air. A bright glow emitted from its pages and suddenly, flaming spheres of dark indigo energy fell from the sky. It attacked all around him and ruthlessly hit Team 8. When they thought it was going to end with the fewer spheres falling, Zexion spread his arms to the sides and the a glow surrounded him while the light from the book grew.

"You brought it upon yourself!" Zexion shouted to them and to the skies.

The barrage of spheres grew more numerous. They were also bigger and faster as they crashed into the ground and onto Hinata, Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru.

Finally, the attack ended and they struggled back to their feet. Zexion opened his book to them again and multiple pages flew out. But quickly, despite the pain, Shino released almost all of his remaining insects and performed a hand sign.

"Wall of Insects Jutsu," he said, sweat beading on his neck. The insects flew around the team rapidly, forming a round barrier similar to that of the Hyuga clan's Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation. The sharp pages were unable to make it through, but then Zexion switched strategies and floated back into the air again.

"You think you can be forgiven?!" he shouted in rage.

Again, balls of dark indigo energy crashed to the field. They hit the insect shield and it was slowly breaking apart. Still, the insects flew around the team at high speeds.

"You brought it upon yourself!" Zexion finished as he began to glow with the same light as the book.

The meteors of energy grew in number and speed. They fell onto the shield in waves until it finally dissipated, with the remaining insects retreating underground. But around the team was a bright shield made out of hexagons; a Reflega spell courtesy of Hinata when she heard Zexion's shout. The magical barrier was glowing brightly and Zexion watched in horror as it finally broke, the retaliating pulse heading towards him. The energy hit him with double, maybe even triple, the power he exerted in his attack.

"I can't be. . ." Zexion struggled to say as he stumbled back afterwards. "Defeated. . ." he finally finished softly. Just before he faded away completely, he looked to the group and gave them a nod.

* * *

><p>Everyone, excluding Kakashi and Sai, cheered; instead they smiled happily, but before anyone could say anything, the bright appeared as it brought the group into another vision of the past.<p>

* * *

><p>The group then saw Aqua and Ventus, still together as Ventus was frozen from Xehanort's last attack. Naruto and Hinata were embracing each other in a hug as Sakura was examining the other from the fight. Everything was quiet until. . .<p>

"How 'bout you leave the popsicle with me, so you can have your little fight with Terra." A new voice (except to Xion) said as it confused to the group.

Xion could help but have an eye twitch and an annoyed look on her face as she recognize the voice that gave her a stupid nickname in the past for her. "You gotta be-" She thought as she and the group turned to see a black haired man that was in a ponytail, he had a yellow eye that was his left eye because the right eye was covered in an eye patch, scars on his face and pointed ears. He was wearing what looked like a guard's uniform that was dark slate grey jacket, silver highlights, and two rows of gold buttons on the front. He wore a black belt and white gloves adorned with a silver, curled heart symbol. Finally, he was also wears black, knee-high boots and a tattered, red scarf. "Seriously. . .him!?" She thought.

"Who?" Naruto started.

"The heck?" Kiba asked, wincing in pain a little.

"Is that guy?" Ino finally finished, placing a hand on her hip, examining the guy.

Kakashi then noticed Xion's eye twitching and sighed. "You'll explain later right?" he whispered.

"Yup." Xion bluntly whispered back as the group looked on.

The man looked at the Kingdom Hearts moon as he continued. "You can't be two happy about him deep-sixing your Master." He then started to chuckle as he looked at Aqua, Ventus and the invisible group.

Aqua stared him down. "Who are you?"

"That's what we want to know." Sakura muttered as everyone except Xion nodded in agreement.

The man then smirked at them. "You think you two have some grand role to play. As if. You're only here so that when I finish you off. . .Terra will succumb to the darkness."

Naruto glared at the man. "Another one of these guys. . ."

"So. . .who wants to go first?" The man coolly said as the group then heard some struggling grunts from Ventus.

Ventus then glared at the man angrily. "Shut up!" He yelled at the man.

"Oh, so this kiddo thinks he's a full-fledged Keyblade wielder?" The man said in mock shock. "He's got the angry look down."

"And what would this guy know about Keyblade wielder?" Kiba scuffed as Akamaru resisted the urged to send out a fireball.

"Go ahead if you want to waste your time. Keep trying to drive us apart with your mind games, it'll never work." Aqua said as she placed Ventus down.

The group watched as Ventus struggled on the ground, not being able to move cause of the ice.

"Terra will prove to you he's stronger!" She said as she summoned her Keyblade.

"Aqua!" Ventus called out as she ran in to battle the man as he summoned out two silver and purple crossbow looking weapons.

Xion sweat-dropped. "Even the same weapons. . ." She silently muttered. Suddenly a flash of light appeared as Aqua and the man were about to clash.

"What the!?" Most of the group thought as the light cleared, to see Aqua victorious against the man as he jumped back, panting.

"I keep forgetting- don't mess with Keyblade wielders." He said in exhaustion.

"Well duh dumbass." Naruto said as he then got whacked on the head by Sakura. "Ow! Hey!" Sakura then gave him a sweetly smile, telling basically to be quiet and continue watching.

"But you know what? That just means I made the right choice!" He said as Aqua started to run into him.

"Of course, a distraction." Kakashi muttered as everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well. . . he wanted me to by time, and I'd say he got it." He said as he then ran off.

"Yeah you better run ya prick!" Kiba yelled out to him, even though he couldn't hear him.

"What?" Aqua said as she stopped chasing him. She then gasped as she turned around. "Ven!"

Ventus was still struggling with the ice, wanting to get out.

"Damn. . .he better get out soon, who knows what'll happen." Naruto muttered.

Ventus suddenly gasped as he looked above. "Aqua!"

The group then turned back to Aqua as they all saw Vanitas diving above Aqua.

"No Aqua!" Xion called out as she and the group saw Aqua get slashed by Vanitas as it knocked her out and fell to the ground.

"No. . ." Hinata muttered.

"That little. . ." Kiba angrily growled as Akamaru did the same.

Sakura clenched her fist as she suddenly ran up to Vanitas.

"Sakura no!" Kakashi yelled.

"YOU BASTARD!" Sakura angrily yelled as she tried to punch Vanitas, as it only phased through him. "DAMN IT!"

"Calm down Sakura!" Xion called out.

Ventus continued to struggle as Vanitas got ready to stab Aqua.

"AQUA!" Naruto tried to call out.

Ventus continued to struggle out, steam coming out of him.

Choji sped up the eating of his chips while the other watched on, feeling helpless that they couldn't do anything.

Vanitas was about to thrust downward when. . .

"NO!" A cry went out. The group and Vanitas turned to see Ventus, finally thawed out of the ice as he glared as Vanitas.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered as Kiba smirked at him. "Take him down!"

Kakashi eye smiled at the determined look on his face. "To think, using sheer willpower to thaw out of ice." He then looked at Naruto. "He's a lot like Naruto in a way." He thought as the group then watched the battle.

Ventus and Vanitas clashed like when Terra and Eraqus fought before, pure light versus pure darkness. But there was one difference, being that these two were one in the same person. Once in a while, Vanitas tried to attack Ventus with the cyclone of keyblades, sometimes he got hit, other time he was wasn't with direct attacks and dark magic variations of fire, blizzard and thunder. Every time the two clashed for a moment, a small shockwave was released.

"It's amazing how much power there is in these two people." Sai said as Shino nodded in agreement.

"Not one of them is letting up for a moment." Kakashi said.

At one point or another, Ventus attacked Vanitas so many times that he suddenly gained a aura of fire around him.

"INCREDIBLE! VENTUS'S FLAMES OF YOUTH ARE POWERING HIM UP!" Lee cheered as tears ran down his eyes. Everyone sweat-dropped at the comment.

"What is that anyway?" Shino asked, curious at what was happening to Ventus.

"Firestorm." Hinata said as she looked on.

"Fire-what?" Ino asked, confused at what she said.

"A command style just like the series of attacks that Terra used against his master when we watched his fight a few days ago."

Ventus suddenly changed again as now he glowed white with six blades hovering around him.

"Now it's the Wingblade command style!" Xion said as she looked on.

"So can you girls do something like that?" Naruto asked.

The two then gave a thoughtful look for a moment. "We haven't tried yet, so we don't know." Hinata said.

"It could be possible at one point." Xion added.

The battle raged as Ventus did what looked like the final attack for Wingblade as he threw the swords into the ground, creating a circular magic emblem made of light. Ventus then lands in the center of the swords, sending out a shockwave of light to the entire area.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed with stars in his eyes. Hinata couldn't help but chuckle a little at her boyfriend's antics.

"Impressive finishing move there." Sai said.

Sakura then scuffed. "That'll show not to mess with other." She said as she put a hand on her hip.

Ventus returned to normal as he stared down Vanitas. That when everyone noticed a black aura coming out of him.

"Oh no. . ." Xion muttered as she became wide eyed.

"You've done it Ventus." Vanitas said as he got back up.

"What!? He's not done yet!?" Naruto growled along with Kiba and Akamaru.

Vanitas then sent away his keyblade as the mask covering his face disappeared. "Now that my body is about to perish. . ."

"Shit!" Kiba angrily muttered as everyone glared at him.

"You and I will have to join together!" Vanitas finished saying.

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled as he tried to rush in to attack, but was stopped by Kakashi who was shaking his head.

"The χ-blade will be forged!" He said as a black smoke circle appeared around the two.

"Run Ven!" Xion called out.

At that moment, a group of sleek, humanoid creature with blue skin. Its arms and legs end in points and have no distinct digits. It has a triangular head with two long, jagged, lightning bolt-shaped antennae, and red eyes that made it look like it was always angry.

"What the hell!?" Kiba said as they all looked at the new creatures that were wrapping themselves around Ventus, making him unable to move. Sai meanwhile, quickly took out his sketchbook and started draw. . .again.

"What are those creatures!?" Kakashi said as he turned to Hinata and Xion.

Hinata and Xion were shocked at these new creature and they'll have to ask Yen Sid about them when they see him again.

As Ventus struggled to get freed, he stared back at Vanitas. "The Unversed. . . come from you?"

"Unversed?" Was everyone's thought.

A portal then started to grow behind Vanitas as more of the 'Unversed' started coming out. Besides the ones that ensnared Ventus, there were other. One was a flying one, it looked like a flying disk with an antenna on it. Another was a round one that looked like a giant bomb. Finally the last one that appeared was a large one that looked like it was made of three separate parts, a head, arms and leg. Vanitas smirked at Ventus. "It happened when you and I were split into two. The negativity took shape of these monster. They are what I feel- a horde of fledgling emotion under my control. I released them into all the worlds I could, hoping to lure you away from and isolate you from your Master." He explained as he walked up to him.

"So that explains it." Kakashi said as the other gulped at thought.

Vanitas then stopped in front of Ventus. "We needed to make you stronger. The Unversed were the perfect opponents." The Unversed that were behind suddenly started to disappear into black smoke as it went into Vanitas. "And better yet, no matter how many times you defeat them their negativity flows right back into me." He then started to stare Ventus down.

"Three different types of monsters now." Sai said.

"Huh?" Naruto asked as he turned towards him.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, curious at what he said.

"Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed. Three types of monster, each of them using darkness in their own way." Sai explained.

"Four. . ." Xion said as she didn't turn her head.

"What?"

"Four types. . . there's another type."

"Really, what's it called? I'm interested."

"I'll tell you later. Keep watching."

"You never stood a chance against us Ventus." Vanitas said in a gloating tone. He then started to walk into Ventus, causing a bright, blinding light to appear.

"What the-!?" Naruto said as he covered his eyes.

"Ven!" Xion called out as she covered her eyes as well.

As the group shielded their eyes, they heard a cry in pain.

* * *

><p>After a while, the group and Ventus reopened their eyes, now they found themselves at someplace completely different.<p>

"This is. . ." Naruto said as he and the group looked around.

"A Station of Awakening." Xion said as she and the group looked down at the stain-glass. Both Ventus and Vanitas were on it, both of them holding their keyblades. The group then turned to see Vanitas, floating down with a new, strangely broken looking blade. It looked like two Kingdom Key Keyblades merged together in an 'X' and there was an extension coming out of it looking like a sword. A black light aura covered the blade.

"So. . ." Tenten said with a little fear, scanning the blade.

"That's the χ-blade. . ." Kakashi finished.

"Our union was not finished." Vanitas stated.

"Good you asshole." Naruto muttered as they glared him down.

"The χ-blade shouldn't stay broken like this." He then raised the blade above his head and then pointed it at Ventus. "Join me now, and we can complete the χ-blade!"

Ventus shook his head as he turned toward him. "I've got a better idea." He then summoned his Keyblade. "How about I destroy you both!?" He then got into is stance.

"Now that's more like it!" Naruto said with a smirk on his face.

Vanitas then started to laugh. "The χ-blade is made your heart, too, idiot. If you destroy it, your heart will vanish forever."

Everyone except Kakashi and Sai swallowed as they continued watching.

"Whatever it takes. Anything to save Terra and Aqua." Ventus said, still giving him his determined look.

Vanitas then scuffed. "Hmph, it's always about your friends, isn't it?"

"At least he has some!" Naruto declared.

"At least I have some!" Ventus said, causing the group to look as Naruto, who was smiling widely.

"Yup, similar." Kakashi said.

"Definitely." Xion said with a small chuckle.

"I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine."

Xion smiled, remembering Sora saying this before, now knowing where he got that saying from, as she turned towards Hinata and all of her new friends. "My friends are my power and I'm theirs!" They both said in unison, Ventus getting ready to fight his final battle.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. "That was a good speech he made."

"INDEED IT WAS KAKASHI-SENSEI! FRIENDSHIP IS A MOST POWERFUL AND YOUTHFUL THING!" Lee cheered. Unlike every other time, everyone smiled.

"You got that right!" Kiba said as he pet Akamaru.

Naruto rubbed under his nose as he then kissed Hinata on the lips. "You and me are more then friends Hinata."

Hinata smiled back at Naruto with a light blush on her face. "Yeah."

Shino smirked as Choji chuckled and placed a hand on Shikamaru. Sakura and Ino smiled at each other along with Tenten.

Sai was amazed, he met someone, willing to risk his life for the sake of his friend. He was always told by his master that friendship lead to weakness and that there was no point in it as shinobis should be emotionless. "Incredible. . ." He then began to ponder about something. "Could Lord Danzō. . .be wrong?" He thought.

The final clash had now really begun as Ventus and Vanitas fought for control of the body. Ventus nearly dodged everyone of Vanitas attack, which were incredibly powerful. He countered almost every move he made as he fought. He had even got into a command style twice just for this last battle as he was willing to sacrifice himself to prevent the χ-blade from coming into existence.

Vanitas soon started float above everyone. "Play times over." He then rushed into the arena and destroyed it.

"Why did he do that!?" Naruto yelled as they were all now floating.

"Geez, this guy doesn't give up easily." Tenten said.

"They never do." Xion sighed as they continued watching.

Ventus then started displaying new moves as he and Vanitas first rushed into each other, coated in their respective siding as their blades spun like drills.

"Woah!" Naruto said as he looked on at the attack. "Maybe I could do something like that?" He thought.

Suddenly, Ventus took aim as he shot a beam of light at Vanitas and he did the same except with darkness. Everyone had to cover their eyes for a moment from the sheer power. The two then finally started warping at blinding speeds as they continued clashing.

"YOSH! WHEN I GET HOME, I AM INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF WEIGHTS FOR EVEN TOUGHER TRAINING SO I CAN TOO OBTAIN THAT SPEED!" Lee said as Tenten silently wept.

Kakashi couldn't help but palm his face. "Great. . .more of a reason for him to over do it. . ."

"Light!" Ventus called out as he surrounded Vanitas with three beams of crystallized light. He then rushed into him and shattered them.

"Awesome. . ." Naruto muttered in awe as everyone looked on.

Vanitas lost grip of the χ-blade. He became shocked as he tried to get the χ-blade back into his hand, but it looked like he lost his strength as he started to fall and the χ-blade shattered like glass.

The group then turned to Ventus as his own Keyblade shattered as well. They all watched as Vanitas faded from existence and his Station of Awakening rebuilt itself as he landed on it, but now it just had Ventus on it. Ventus smiled as he started to float away as his heart left.

"Ven. . ." Xion muttered as a lone tear fell down her face.

Naruto clenched his fist as he looked away. "Xehanort will pay for this. . .I swear it."

"No one deserved this fate." Kakashi said.

The group watched as the heart flew off to who knows where. Soon enough, a blinding light appeared again

* * *

><p>The group now was at somewhere they didn't expect at all. They saw young Sora as he opened his eyes.<p>

"Another Station?" Sakura asked.

"This must be his before gaining the ability to wield the Keyblade." Xion said as they looked on.

They all looked as they saw what was left of Ventus coming towards them.

"Ven!" Xion happily said, tears flowing down her face.

"Alright! He survived!" Naruto cheered.

Young Sora looked over to Ventus's heart. "Hey. Can you hear me?" He called out.

"I heard your voice. It cut through the darkness around me." Ventus said.

"Thank goodness." Sakura said as she had a sigh of relief.

Kiba smirked as Akamaru barked happily.

"All alone, I followed the sound, into a sea of light. . ." Ventus's heart then landed into Sora's hands. "And found myself here, with you."

Ino couldn't help but squeal at how cute the young Sora was as Tenten gave a light chuckle. Shino smirked again along with Shikamaru as Choji happily ate his chips.

"You gave me something back when I needed it most. A second chance."

"Everyone deserves a second chance." Kakashi said as Sai placed a hand on where his heart was.

"I did?" Sora asked, confused a little.

"But. . . now I have to go back to sleep again." He depressing said.

"Ven. . ." Hinata depressingly said, feeling sorry for him.

"Are you sad?" Sora asked.

A moment passed when Ventus spoke again. "Would you mind if I stayed here, with you?"

Xion lightly smiled again as she watched on.

"Sure, if it makes you feel better." Sora said.

"Thank you." Ventus said as Sora brought the heart into his body and went into him.

"Sleep well. . .Ven." Xion muttered as a bright light appeared again and the group returned to the garden, Shino now holding Zexion's Lexicon.


	50. Chapter 50

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 50: Surviving the Silent Hero

Naruto and Hinata were cuddling as Hinata told Naruto what Zexion showed her in her illusion. Naruto gave her reassuring looks and words of comfort whenever she had to pause to rein in her emotions.

"Wow. That must've been rough. . ." Naruto said as Hinata told him what would've happen if Hinata didn't summon her Keyblade in the Chunin Exam.

"It was. . ." Hinata said in a depressing tone of voice. "But it helped my resolution on wanting to save Neji and Sasuke." She then smiled at Naruto. "I will not give up on rescuing them!"

Naruto smiled at his girlfriend then chuckled a little. "To think, you used to be such a shy girl. And now look at you!" He then kissed her on the cheek. "A confident, amazing and incredibly beautiful woman."

Hinata blushed at the comment. "Thank you, Naruto." She then kissed him back, this time on the lips.

Sakura was mediating as her Materia glowed on her gloves. She was sitting a little ways away from the main group, legs crossed and head slightly bowed. Her face had the look of calm concentration.

"Aerith said that to use this kind of magic, you must concentrate, sending your life energy to the Materia," she muttered quietly to herself, eyes closed. She didn't notice that she had a light coat of chakra around her and that some of it went into the Materia.

"Awesome work Akamaru," Kiba said as he petted Akamaru. After seeing Akamaru almost dying again, he decided that he would care for him more. "We survived that last fight. Great job with those fireballs."

Akamaru happily barked and flicked his tail, causing a small flame to appear on the tip of it like he was lighting a match. It soon flickered away though and there was only a small wisp of smoke left. Akamaru didn't seem to mind though.

Xion was sitting on the ledge in front of the portal to the next member, Lexaeus, the Silent Hero. She shuddered, remembering how giant he was and the lesson Roxas had to learn from him.

"It's obvious that we should have our heavy hitters against him." she thought as she began to think of who should fight next.

As she was deciding on who, she noticed Hinata and Naruto cuddling each other. "Man, they make a cute couple." she thought. She then got up and stretched her limbs. "Well, it's time to get started," she said quietly to herself.

She stepped to the side to allow view of the portal and called for everyone's attention. "Hey! The next match is up!"

Soon, everyone had assembled near her, some of them eyeing the thick and large weapon on the portal. It resembled an axe of some sort with a handle.

"Alright," Xion said. "Up next is Lexaeus. He has power over rocks and earth. For that, I've decided to have Choji, Sakura, and Lee fight him."

"YOSH!" Lee exclaimed, a fist pumped and eyes alight with flames. Everyone sweat-dropped at the sight. "I WILL USE MY FLAMES OF YOUTH IN THIS MATCH! IT SHALL BE A MOST YOUTHFUL BATTLE! GAI-SENSEI! I SHALL NOT FAIL YOU!"

Choji stopped eating his chips and handed them to Shikamaru. "Well, I'm ready to go," He then headed up to the portal.

"Remember Choji, think of this guy calling you the 'f' word like the homo did last time you fought," Ino said. "It will probably help for the fight again."

"Ino, don't antagonize him," Shikamaru said. "It's just too troublesome."

"Good luck Sakura," Naruto said as he held hands with Hinata, who nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," Sakura said as she headed towards the portal, breasts bouncing. "Man I love these breasts!" She happily thought as Ino glared at her.

Before she reached the portal, she passed Sai who smirked. "Careful, we wouldn't want you to trip on them. Though I guess they'll just cushion your fall, huh?"

Sakura paused and glared at the artist. Her eye twitched and, before anyone can blink, she punched Sai in the face, sending him flying back. "BAKA!" she shouted as Sai slammed hard into the ground.

Kakashi palmed his face. "Again, we'll have to work on his social skills," He muttered.

Xion sweat-dropped at the sight. "Yeah, she'll do good during the fight," She thought.

Lee, for some reason, was going to attempt to do 100 push-ups in 5 seconds with a ridiculous amount of weights on his back. "YOSH! TIME FOR SOME LAST MINUTE TRAINING!"

Tenten twitched at the sight and she got out a scroll, the one that contained the weapons she got from the shop. "Lee. . ." She sweetly called out to him.

"Yes Tenten?" Lee looked up to see Tenten holding a machine gun, inserting a clip in. There was also a fire appearing behind her as her eyes glowed completely white. "Uh oh. . ."

"STOP IT WITH YOUR DAMN TRAINING!" Tenten yelled as she started firing bullets then chakra bullets at him.

Lee yelped and, dropping the weights, ran off to the portal. He passed Sakura and Choji, who blinked in confusion. The bullets stopped, but not before a few hit the floor a few feet behind them, making them jump. They whirled around to see Tenten smile sheepishly before putting the machine gun back in a cloud of smoke.

Everyone sweat-dropped. Xion cleared her throat before waving a hand to the portal. "Good luck guys," she said to the three.

Lee immediately ran into the portal, shouting out 'youth' and such. Sakura rolled her eyes before following after him with Choji.

The portal glowed yellow and everyone else made their way to the computer to watch. The two extra screens were still offline.

Inside, the arena was the same as Larxene's, though the pillars looked thicker. Sakura and Choji looked at Lee, who was scratching his head in confusion. "That was a most un-youthful thing for Tenten to do. I wonder why she did that?" Lee pondered as the two sweat-dropped.

"We'll tell you later Lee," Sakura said with a slight chuckle.

Back outside, Tenten was having a mild rant. "DAMN IT! HE JUST DOESN'T STOP IT WITH THE TRAINING! I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER SEEN HIM TAKE A BREAK!" She then cried anime tears. "Just one tiny break. . . just one. . ." She then went into a fetal position and started rocking back and forth, a depressed aura around her.

Everyone sweat-dropped at the sight. Hinata came up and pat her on the back. "There, there Tenten. It's alright," she comforted.

"You said he trains everyday with Gai?" Xion asked. Tenten nodded. "Isn't that unhealthy? Constant training without rest can cause serious muscle tears and it damages the body," Xion said, concerned.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded and she looked at her boyfriend. "Back when we were training with Master Yen Sid, we had a rough schedule, but he let us have break days to relax for a short time." She then sweat-dropped. "Although Xion and I just slept for most of the times we had breaks."

Xion suddenly went into a fetal position of her own next to Tenten, muttering something about having only one vacation day back when she was in the Organization.

Back in the arena, the data streams appeared to form a giant, muscular man with the build of a rhino. At his side, he was holding a massive Axe Sword that was about a meter long with a blue handle roughly as long as the blade. The blade itself was made of black, red, and yellow metal, and appeared to be laborious to wield for anyone who did not possess his apparently great strength.

"Holy. . ." Sakura gasped, taking a few steps backward. "And I thought Choji's dad was big!"

Choji became wide-eyed, gulping. "Dang. . .he is bigger than dad." He then eyed the Sword Axe. "I wonder if I can wield that? I'll have to ask Tenten about it," He thought.

Lee stared at the large man with sparkles in his eyes. "WOW!" He just became more inspired to train.

"You've done well to make it this far. I am somewhat impressed. But to be friends with a puppet. . . . .what a waste," the giant of a man stated condescendingly.

Sakura immediately bristled at the insult. "She's not a puppet!" she shouted, green eyes blazing.

"That's right!" Choji agreed. "She's our friend!"

Lexaeus merely scoffed before hefting the Axe Sword onto a shoulder. He hunched down under the weight and widened his stance. In response, the three shinobi shifted into their own battle stances.

Outside, eyes widened at the appearance of Lexaeus. Jaws dropped and Akamaru had his tail tucked between his legs.

Kiba gulped. ". . .Big," he muttered in a small tone.

Xion chuckled nervously. "Yeah, he's intimidating. He was also very suspicious of others, especially of the other members. Surprisingly enough though," she said. "He trusted Zexion and, from what Axel told me, he was practically Zexion's minion or something."

Tenten was eyeing the Axe Sword with a finger to her chin in contemplation. "Hmm."

Beside her, Ino raised an eyebrow. "What? You're not gonna drool over the weapon like the others?"

"Not really," the weapon expert replied after a moment. "It looks too heavy for me to lift."

At that moment, Lexaeus hefted the weapon onto his shoulder. Tenten winced at the sight of a clearly strong man having to hunch down under his own weapon. "Yeah, it's definitely too heavy."

Lee immediately rushed to attack Lexaeus. Fist raised, he attempted to punch the big man in the chest. This was quickly thwarted when Lexaeus blocked with the broad side of his weapon. A painful tingly feeling jolted through Lee's arm at the impact and he quickly leapt away with a grimace, shaking his throbbing hand.

Sakura had followed behind the youthful ninja and crept behind the Silent Hero's back. Immediately after Lexaeus moved his Axe Sword to defend against Lee, Sakura raised her own fist and preceded to punch the fifth member in the back. But this was not to be so as a red and black aura emanated from Lexaeus, who thrust his weapon forward with a yell, sending out a dark pulse that threw her away.

Meanwhile, Choji and Lee braced themselves against the dark energy. It pushed against them with such a force that they skid back a foot or two, near where Sakura had landed on her side. Afterwards, they saw that an oval of pure power surrounded the fifth member; emanating black, red, purple, and gold in giant bursts.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Choji asked worriedly as the pushing force subsided.

"I'm fine," Sakura replied, getting back to her feet. "Let's attack him at the same time, though."

The other two nodded and before Lexaeus slid back into his stance, they immediately split up and headed towards him, Choji rolling to him. Sakura raised a fist for a blow to the head, charging it with chakra; Lee pulled his leg back, aiming for the back; Choji had enlarged both of his hands for a double punch.

Lexaeus simply scoffed before throwing his Axe Sword to the air. He punched the ground and a pillar made out of sharp rocks burst from the ground beneath each ninja, throwing them away. He reared back and punched the ground again, summoning another set of sharp stalagmites under his foes. Just as they painfully fell back down to the ground, the Axe Sword was caught by Lexaeus. With both hands, he stabbed the ground and giant, sharp pillars burst from the ground, throwing each ninja back into the air. The aura around him had shrunken and turned into wisps of red as he hunched down into his stance.

Outside, everyone winced once Sakura, Lee, and Choji fell hard back to the ground. Their eyes were wide at the display of power Lexaeus demonstrated.

"Oh-kay, he's frighteningly powerful," Kiba commented and Akamaru whimpered behind him, tail tucked between his legs. Everyone around him shakily nodded in agreement.

Back in the arena, the three Konoha shinobi slowly and painfully got back to their feet. They winced at the bruises and scratches on their persons and their aching backs/sides from landing so hard on the stone floor. They glared at the giant man across from them.

Lexaeus only looked down on them, face stern. "It seems I was wrong," he said. "You do belong with that weak puppet."

Now Sakura was pissed. "She's not a puppet!" she shouted angrily.

"She is one of the most youthful people I know!" Lee added in.

Lexaeus scoffed and continued to glare at them. "If it is so strong," he said. "Than you three are weaker."

He hunched himself lower and the wisps of red energy began to condense into a menacing red-orange glow. It was obvious that he was gathering his energy.

Choji winced at a twinge of pain from his side. Turning to his friends, he said, "We're going to need to go all out for this guy. I'm going to bring out my pills, but I need some time to concentrate all that chakra."

Lee nodded. "I shall take off my weights as well. Sakura, my cherry blossom, can you distract him for us?"

Sakura frowned at the pet name, but her emerald eyes were determined. "Right. Just don't take too long." She brought out a kunai and turned back to Lexaeus. Behind her, Lee was leaning down to take off his weights and Choji was reaching for the pills, aiming for the yellow curry pill.

With a roar, Lexaeus thrust his weapon forward, sending out another dark pulse. Sakura acted quickly and, one of the Materia equipped to her gloves glowing, thrust both palms in front of her. "Barrier!" she shouted and instantly a glowing, semi-transparent pale green wall appeared in front of her, shielding her and her friends.

The dark energy smashed against the wall. Sakura winced at the force and her barrier cracked all over, but still held. The attack dissipated soon afterwards and the wall immediately shattered. Lexaeus was once more covered in the powerful energy and he dug his weapon, which was glowing an angry red, into the ground. With a shout, he dragged the Axe Sword upwards and a wall of rocks was sent in her direction.

Although still winded from having used the Barrier spell, which took a good chunk of her energy, she gathered chakra into a raised fist and punched the ground. A pulsing earthquake, aided by the Earth Materia, hit the rock wall head-on, making it crumble to dust.

Taking out a kunai, she ran to Lexaeus, whose energy had weakened to a soft red. She slashed at him and leaped away, turning on her heel to throw the kunai at the giant. He had actually flinched at the attack and staggered backward when the weapon embedded itself in his right shoulder, the energy disappearing from around him. He reached out and pulled the kunai out, but had hunched over, Axe Sword slack next to him. He seemed to have suddenly gotten tired, breathing deeply.

Taking this opportunity, Sakura took out more kunai and held them between her fingers. Attached to the ends of each one was a small, pink cloth bag. Pumping chakra into her legs and feet, she quickly ran around the fifth member and showered him with her kunai. Lexaeus looked up and moved to block with his Axe Sword. The cloth bags burst with each hit, exploding in pieces of paper and pink petals.

Lexaeus raised an eyebrow as they fell around him like confetti. He looked to the pink-haired medic, who had stopped her run and stood in front of him. With a smirk, Sakura pulled out one more kunai, a marked tag tied to the end of it.

"Sakura Blizzard Jutsu!" she shouted as the far end of the explosive tag lit up and crackled.

She threw it at the ground in front of the giant, the petals and paper still swirling around him. Lexaeus' eyes widened in realization and he quickly raised his weapon to defend himself. The moment the lit kunai embedded itself into the floor, there was a giant explosion, shaking the ground.

The smoked cleared and Sakura looked back to the fifth member. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a giant cluster of rocks and stalagmites where Lexaeus once was. There was an enraged roar and the stones shattered into dozens of pieces, Lexaeus having spun in the middle. They flew threw the air and Sakura barely erected another Barrier spell. Even then, the glowing wall broke almost instantly and the pink-haired kunoichi was assaulted by the sharp pieces.

She fell back onto the ground and Lexaeus took this opportunity to charge at her. "I'll break you!" he shouted, raising his weapon for a devastating blow.

Before he could connect, however, a pair of heavy weights hit him in the back and the same shoulder that was hit by the kunai from earlier, making him cry out in surprised pain. He stumbled forward before catching himself and leaning on his Axe Sword.

"Spiky Human Boulder!" a voice shouted.

Lexaeus was thrown off his feet as he was hit on the side by a giant, brown, rolling mass. He was smashed into one of the pillars and the ball retreated back a few meters, where it reverted back into Choji, whose chakra had grown immensely after consuming the yellow Curry pill. It had also changed to a golden yellow color.

Just as Lexaeus was getting back up, he was kicked in the back and flew forward. Before he could crash into the ground, he was assaulted with numerous blows all around him, sending him flying in all directions like a pinball.

"Konoha Senpuu!" another voice shouted. Lexaeus was kicked in the solar plexus, making him gasp out with wide eyes, and he crashed to the floor. He slid on his side until he came to an abrupt stop by a pillar. His Axe Sword slid next to him, just missing his head.

Lee appeared next to Choji, the weights around his legs missing. The youthful ninja immediately went to help up Sakura, who was healing herself. They joined Choji and stood ready for what could happen next.

Lexaeus slowly climbed to his feet, picking up his fallen weapon. "Not bad," he commented, chuckling darkly as he stared back at his opponents. "I guess you're not as weak as I first thought. But no matter. I, Lexaeus, shall not yield to such frail-minded fools!"

Raising his weapon, he began to glow in an angry red-orange energy. The Axe Sword became engulfed in a smoky red aura and he slammed it to the ground. The red energy burst out in a grand pulse, accompanied by black darkness, and the following earthquake shook the floor so much, that the ninja thought the entire arena might just break.

Fortunately, the floor was still intact and they had dodged the attack by leaping to the air. However, with a dark chuckle, Lexaeus had leaped away into the shadows around him, surrounded once again by that powerful, bursting energy.

The three ninja braced themselves for impact. Sakura began gathering her energy and chakra into the palms of her hands, concentrating on conjuring up another Barrier. Magic was definitely exhausting her.

With a battle cry, Lexaeus fell back to the arena. His form obscured by gold, orange, red, purple, and black, he looked like a giant meteor falling to the Earth.

"Barrier!" Sakura cried. The glowing, pale green magic wall appeared in front of her and her friends. Lexaeus crashed into the ground just in front of it, cracking the ground and sending dust flying. Pillars of sharp rock burst from the ground in that same instant, but thankfully, the barrier held before shattering as the dust settled.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to explode beneath them. The entire area burst in stalagmites and sharp rocks all around, sending them flying with cries of pain. They slammed back to the ground before climbing back to their feet with a grimace.

Before them, Lexaeus was engulfed in a massive pillar of pure gold and black power. It burst out of him as though it couldn't be contained. Slamming a foot to the ground and once more hunching into his battle stance, he glared at the weary trio.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted in fear and worry.

Around him, everyone's eyes were wide. Naruto and Ino were the most distressed. Tenten was biting her lip as she followed her teammate's movements. Shikamaru, Kakashi, and even Sai looked worried.

"Such power. . ." Kakashi whispered, a bead of sweat falling down the side of his face.

"Return to the Earth!" Lexaeus shouted, the powerful aura bursting around him.

He slammed his Axe sword to the ground and giant stalagmites surrounded him, sending Lee and Sakura, who were closing in on him, flying away. Choji quickly rolled to the fifth member once the rocks disappeared. He expanded the size of his hands and feet and proceeded to kick and punch at the giant.

Even so, Lexaeus didn't seem to notice, barely flinching or staggering back. After Choji performed a spin-kick that appeared to do little to no damage at all, Lexaeus suddenly spun around, his Axe Sword just missing the big-boned lad, who ducked. The giant grabbed the front of Choji's shirt with his free hand and lifted him up. He threw Choji to a pillar, making him slam into it with his back and upside down. Not a second later, before gravity could pull him to the ground, Lexaeus, ignoring the hits from a recovered Lee and Sakura, raised his weapon again. It was coated in the smoky, angry red aura again and when he smashed it into the ground, rocks exploded out from the ground and slammed into Choji.

"CHOJI!" Everyone shouted, Ino and Shikamaru being the loudest.

Lee and Sakura screamed out their friend's name as he fell to the ground. Choji landed painfully on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Though his clothes remained intact due to the three good fairies' magic, he was covered in numerous cuts and bruises.

Their attention diverted, Lexaeus took this opportunity to charge up his power again. He hunched down into his battle stance and began to glow in that angry red-orange light. Sakura immediately ran to her fallen friend and Lee turned to face their opponent, planning to give Sakura enough time to heal the big-boned teen.

"YOSH!" Lee shouted, a fist pumped and eyes blazing. "THAT WAS MOST UN-YOUTHFUL OF YOU! YOU MAY BE A YOUTHFULLY POWERFUL OPPONENT, BUT YOU SHALL PAY FOR HURTING MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND SO UNNECESSARILY!"

Lexaeus seemed to have unheard him as he continued to build his power. A frown on his face, Lee concentrated and shouted, "FIRST GATE! OPEN! SECOND GATE! OPEN!"

Not only did his strength and speed dramatically, but the wounds on his body began to heal as well. Soon, he looked as good as new and he immediately went on the attack.

Lexaeus, finally noticing the danger he was in, threw his Axe Sword into the air. He punched the ground, sending out a pillar of sharp rocks underneath the taijutsu user. Lee recovered quickly and took a glance at his friends to see that they had managed to dodge the stalagmites sent their way, Choji sporting less evidence of the beating he took because of Sakura's medical skills. He turned back to his opponent and took off at high speed.

He dodged the next set of rocks and before Lexaeus could catch his weapon, Lee kicked him in the side. The Silent Hero was sent flying with a grunt and before he could land, he was once more victim to a series of attacks courtesy of the youthful ninja.

A quick, final punch and Lexaeus was sent flying near where Sakura and Choji were. Sakura gathered chakra into her fist and Choji expanded both of his hands, both ninja preparing to punch the fifth member. But they weren't so lucky as Lexaeus recovered.

"I'll break you!" Lexaeus roared. He flipped onto the ground behind the two ninja and slammed his Axe Sword one the floor. The ground beneath them exploded in rocks and dirt and both were sent flying, Sakura landing further away.

Lexaeus coated himself in his unstoppable, colorful energy. Lucky for him since Lee was just about to kick him into the air. Instead, he didn't even flinch or show any indication that Lee's attacks were having any effect whatsoever.

Just as the youthful ninja landed a blow to the chest, with still no effect, Lexaeus reached out and slapped him behind the head. Lee was slammed into the ground and the force was enough to make him bounce back up. Lexaeus then kicked him further up into the air, adding to the momentum, and Lee was sent flying straight into the air. From up there, he could see the whole arena, but he didn't have time to actually look because Lexaeus had leaped after him. With an enraged yell, Lexaeus slammed his Axe Sword into Lee's back, smashing the taijutsu user into the ground. The secondary effect of such an attack was that the moment Lee smashed into the floor, the entire arena burst in multiple rocks and stalagmites, hitting Sakura and Choji as well as Lee.

Lexaeus was still engulfed in the powerful energy as he landed safely back on the floor. His opponents took a while before climbing back up to their feet. Their clothes remained undamaged, but they were still covered in scratches and bruises, Lee being the most wounded.

"Alright, that's it!" Choji declared. "Super Expansion Jutsu!" With that, he grew to three times his size, taking up half of the arena.

Lexaeus stern expression didn't change at the transformation. Instead, he dug his weapon into the ground, and with a swipe, the blade part of his Axe Sword was covered in rocks and compacted dirt. He then slammed his weapon onto one of Choji's legs.

This time, Choji was the one not to flinch under an attack. Eyes widened in slight surprise and energy weakening, Lexaeus braced himself as Choji swept a large hand towards him. Choji slapped Lexaeus into the air and then grabbed him before throwing the Silent Hero onto the ground. The floor shook on impact and Choji returned to normal size.

Lexaeus had no time to recover as Sakura appeared in front of him, a fist raised and coated in chakra. "CHA!" she yelled, face of pure anger and fury. The pink-haired kunoichi punched the Silent Hero flying across the floor.

Just before Lexaeus could hit a pillar, he was kicked straight upwards into the air (again). Like a pinball, he was thrown around as he became victim to Lee's fast-moving attacks. Facing the ground, he felt himself become restrained tightly by bandages and chains. The fifth member managed to glance back to see Lee behind him. The youthful ninja grabbed onto Lexaeus and they began to spin like a drill towards the ground; head-first.

"Primary Lotus!" Lee shouted as they neared the floor. On impact, a cloud of dust and dirt exploded into the air.

A few moments later, Lee burst from the cloud and landed beside his friends. Sakura had just finished healing most of Choji's injuries and as soon as she noticed how exhausted the taijutsu user looked, she began to heal him as well. Choji moved to defend them if Lexaeus recovered and attacked them again.

Because of the dust cloud from the last attack, the three weren't able to see Lexaeus become data. So, they didn't know if he was still alive or not. They looked on at the crater that Lee made.

"Is he beaten?" Sakura asked as she worked on healing Choji, who was mostly tired.

"I do not know; hopefully he was," Lee said as he got into a defensive stance just in case.

Choji struggled to get up. "He's strong. . .really strong."

"Indeed he is," Lee responded back.

Back outside, the group was having a (mostly) collective sigh of relief, hoping it was over as well.

"Jeez. . ." Naruto muttered.

"Yeah. . ." Kakashi said.

"I told you guys he was tough," Xion pointed out. "Although I wish he didn't call me a puppet. . ." She muttered in the end miserably.

"It's alright Xion," Hinata said as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're no longer a puppet. You're our friend. One with her own heart."

"She's right, Xion," Kiba smirked as Akamaru licked her face.

Xion smiled back. "Thanks guys."

"Alright, I healed up most of the inguries, but the rest will have to heal on their own," Sakura explained to Choji.

"Thanks Sakura I-" Choji was saying as he was interrupted by the ground shaking.

"Uh oh!" Lee said.

The three soon heard an extremely loud roar and a black blur shot out from the crater. It punched him in the gut, sending him flying before being slammed into one of the pillars.

"LEE!" Everyone, both in and outside the arena, shouted.

"I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Lexaeus roared out as he charged at Lee, weapon raised and glowing an angry red.

Lexaeus wildly swung his Axe Sword and sent out a large amount of energy at Lee. Like a red crescent wave, it hit the taijutsu user head-on, knocking the breath out of him. Suddenly, he felt a painful, tingling feeling course through his body. He couldn't think too much on it because Lexaeus began to perform a series of attacks on him.

"Why's he focusing all of his energy on Lee?" Choji thought out loud as he and Sakura ran to help their friend.

"Lee. . ." Sakura thought worriedly.

Before the two could get any closer, Lexaeus caught sight of them from the corner of his eyes. After slamming Lee into the pillar again, he raised his Axe Sword and slammed it into the ground. Giant stalagmites burst forth, heading towards the two 'rescuers' and stopping them in their tracks.

Meanwhile, Lee was being rapidly attacked by Lexaeus, trying to dodge and/or block his moves. His limbs felt stiff and he suspected it was because of that energy wave earlier.

"This is indeed a tough battle; even tougher than when I fought Gaara and Kimimaro," He said as he successfully dodged another attack. This was short-lived because he was hit in the back by Lexaeus' weapon.

"What did Gai-sensei once say when a battle gets this rough?" He thought as he remembered something while blocking another attack in mid air combat.

~*flashback*~

Lee and Gai were training for the 20th day in a row. Tenten, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino had already left from exhaustion.

"Now Lee, if you ever get into a rough battle I want you to eat this!" Gai said as he handed him what looked like candy.

"What is this Gai-sensei?!" Lee excitingly asked as he looked at the candy.

"It's a whisk- I mean A CHOCOLATE BOMB!" Gai proudly said.

"OH GAI-SENSEI! I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE TRUSTING ME WITH THIS!" Lee cheered with tears running down his face, not noticing his teacher's little slip. In his excitement, he began to spin around while admiring the gift up close.

Gai's personality went serious as he grabbed Lee's shoulder, stopping his spin. "Look, only use it when the situation goes extremely, extremely bad and it doesn't go in your favor," he advised.

"I understand, Gai-Sensei!" Lee saluted.

~*end flashback*~

Back outside, Tenten and Kiba paled at what Lee was holding.

"Is that a…?" Tenten asked fearfully.

"It is," stated a clearly unnerved Kiba.

"Gai didn't. . .he did. . ." Shino plainly said, but one would still be able to hear a little fear in his voice.

"Huh? What's up?" Xion asked, confused and curious.

"There's this style of taijutsu that few people can actually have," Shino explained. "It's called Drunken Fist and Lee here is a natural at it. It takes just one drop of alcohol for him to attack anyone, friend or foe. Not only does his strength and speed increase, but his actions become more erratic and unpredictable."

Xion's eyes widened in surprise and worry. "Okay, so never let Lee touch any alcohol. At all. But..." she said, confused. "What does that have to do with that candy?"

"It's a whiskey bonbon," Shino finished bluntly.

Xion visibly paled. She turned back to the screen and muttered, "Oh dear..."

Tenten then grabbed the screen and started yelling at it. "Lee! Don't do it!"

"Forgive me everyone. . ." Lee grumbled on the monitor and popped the chocolate into his mouth after disposing the wrapper.

"NOOOOOO!" Tenten and Kiba screamed at once and hugged each other in fear, scaring almost everyone else in the room.

"This won't end well. . ." Shino stated bluntly.

Kakashi palmed his face. "Gai. . ."

Back in the arena, Lexaeus noticed that Lee's moves started to change, swaying from side to side. "What is this nonsense?"

"Wha'chu lookin' at?" Lee slurred with a red blush on his face. The world blurred in and out of focus around him. Thankfully, Lexaeus was standing in front of a pillar, so his dark coat stood out from the pale floor and stone masonry.

"I-I'm gonna beat you an. . . wha am I doin' here again?" He fumbled as he stumbled towards the giant man. "I see yoo starin' at me funny. . . stop starin' at me!" The clearly inebriated Lee charged at Lexaeus incredibly quickly despite his stumbling, uneven steps.

Lexaeus narrowed his eyes and rose his Axe Sword to block the attack. But then, Lee disappeared from his sight and he was kicked in the back, making him fly forwards. That was not all since he was punched in the side, abruptly changing his trajectory. Lee then kicked him straight in the jaw, launching him upwards.

In his drunk state, Lee lost his balance and fell onto his back. He lay there, eyes closed and slightly snoring.

Lexaeus, seeing the opportunity reared back his weapon and dived downwards. He was soon coated in his colorful energy, looking like a comet. At the edge of the arena, Sakura and Choji were making their way to their friend after finally climbing and breaking through the cage-like rocks. Though weak in chakra and energy, Sakura began to gather as much as she could to conjure two Barrier spells; one for the initial attack and the other for the unavoidable eruption afterwards.

Just before either party could reach the vulnerable taijutsu user, he suddenly leapt up to his feet and slammed into Lexaeus. Taking hold of the hood of his coat, he then threw the giant man to the floor. Lexaeus slammed into the arena, nearly cracking the floor, and Lee fell after him but instead of landing on his feet, he fell flat on his face. Almost like a worm, Lee pulled himself up, still swaying from side to side.

"Ha! You fell fer it!" Lee proclaimed. "I wuz only pretendin' to be ash-leep! A ninja doesn't jus sleep in th' middle of...of...a battle! Combat! Fighting!"

Behind him, Choji widened his eyes and tugged on Sakura's wrist, beginning to back away. "Oh no," he said, worry creeping into his voice. "Gaara and the others explained this to me after the Sa-" he paused, remembering what happens whenever the traitor Uchiha was mentioned around his former teammates.

"After that mission. Lee gets really powerful and fast when he's drunk; unfortunately, he can't tell the difference between friends and the enemy," he continued, explaining the situation while pulling Sakura to a safe distance away.

Sakura blinked in surprise before nodding, a curious glint in her eyes at Choji's little slip. Now a safe distance away from the two powerful combatants, they decided to heal and rest up. They kept a close eye on the match, though, in case Lee slipped out of his state and Lexaeus was still standing.

Meanwhile, Lexaeus began to pull himself to his feet. His hunch was lower as he stepped back into his battle stance. His jaw was clenched and eyes narrowed. Before him, Lee was still swaying from side to side, rambling every now and then.

"G...Gai-sensei! I've dun it! I've beaten the...the...this big boulder! I hope youze is proud o' me!" Lee yelled, a fist swaying in the air.

Infuriated, Lexaeus roared and thrust his Axe Sword forward, sending out a dark pulse out around him. Sakura was quick to conjure a Barrier spell, protecting herself and Choji, and Lee leaped high before landing on a pillar. He then pushed off, speeding towards the giant man. Lexaeus saw this coming and dug his weapon into the ground. With a yell, he swung upwards, big stalagmites bursting forth to protect him.

Lee simply used the stalagmites as stepping stones and pillars to leap between. Lexaeus' eyes widened as Lee proceeded to punch and kick him at extremely high speed. When he managed to dodge the attacks, he would be quick to lash out in retaliation. However, Lee simply dodged all of his attempts; bending in impossible angles that would even make a contortionist cringe.

Lexaeus finally had had enough. With a roar, he engulfed himself in his powerful aura, making him temporarily invincible. He stood his ground against Lee's attacks, not being affected by them at all. He gripped his Axe Sword with both hands, then stabbed the ground with all the force he could muster. The aura seemed to have compacted and condensed around him, turning him into a spiky pillar of rocks and dirt.

Unfortunately, Lee was moving in to punch him when this happened and one of the spikes shot next to his arm, scratching the unprotected skin and drawing blood. Lee winced at this, quickly sobering up, before more clusters of rock shot from the ground beneath him and around the pillar that Lexaeus was in, sending him flying.

Just as he was about to fall onto the ground, he was caught by a giant hand. Choji placed him back onto his feet, standing next to him after seeing that he wasn't drunk anymore. Choji kept a hand on his shoulder, seeing that Lee looked a little dizzy and confused, but most of all, very tired.

Choji was about to open his mouth to ask if he was alright when a crumbling noise was heard, coming from the pillar. The clusters of rocks cracked before exploding into many sharp projectiles. The pair braced themselves but a pink and red blur shot in front of them.

"Barrier!" Sakura yelled.

A glowing, semi-transparent pale green wall appeared before the trio. The rocks showered the protective spell like pouring rain, cracking it a little. Thankfully, the wall held up and soon the onslaught ended.

But now Lexaeus was rushing towards them like an angry rhino. About two meters away, he dug his weapon into the ground and swung upwards, catching Sakura in the chin and sending her upwards. More stalagmites followed afterwards, slamming into Choji and Lee. They fell onto the ground and began to pick themselves back up. Sakura was falling back to the ground, but before she could slam onto it, Lexaeus swung his Axe Sword and struck the pink haired kunoichi in the stomach. Her body was sent flying and slammed into Choji and Lee, whom just got back onto their feet, and turning them into a pile of limbs.

Even though his powerful aura was gone, Lexaeus was not done with them yet. He raised his weapon, preparing to send another set of rocks in their direction. Seeing the oncoming attack, the trio tried to quickly detangle themselves from each other. Lexaeus slammed his Axe Sword to the floor and a bunch of sharp pillars of rock burst forth, heading in their direction. They managed to separate themselves and quickly leaped away.

Sakura pulled a kunai out and threw it at the fifth member. He didn't see it coming and the small weapon dug itself into the back of his left shoulder. He shouted in pain and turned to face the medic, reaching behind himself for the kunai then pulling it out with a grunt. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"THIRD GATE, OPEN! FOURTH AND FIFTH GATE, OPEN!" a voice shouted.

Lexaeus was unable to properly analyze it as he was suddenly attacked from behind (again). The attacker was none other than an enlarged Choji.

"Spiky Human Boulder!" he yelled as he turned his giant self into an even bigger sharp, brown rolling mass.

It slammed into the now helpless Lexaeus, sending him high into the air. Choji stopped and turned back into his giant size. He reached a hand down and pulled back before throwing something at the Silent Hero, shrinking back to normal sized afterwards. It turned out to be Sakura, who had chakra glowing around one of her fists. When she reached to just above Lexaeus, she drew a fist back.

"CHA!" she yelled out, punching Lexaeus with all her strength and sending him straight down with no time to react.

Before he could hit the ground, he was kicked square in the jaw, sending him upwards again, courtesy Lee. The now red-skinned taijutsu user then attacked him further into the air. Lexaeus was even sent higher than by Choji's attack. Lee then proceeded to kick and punch him all around like a pinball again. Chains and bandages wrapped around his waistline and he felt a tug upwards, towards Lee.

"THIS IS THE END! HIDDEN LOTUS!" Lee yelled as he fell onto the fifth member.

With arm and leg outstretched, he slammed into Lexaeus, sending him downwards rapidly, too fast for even a falling star. A giant dust cloud exploded when he crashed into the ground, bigger than the last time.

Lee also fell to the arena, having used up the last of his chakra and strength in that final attack. Fortunately, before he too could slam into the earth, he was caught by a giant hand once more. He was then gently placed onto the ground near Sakura, who quickly began to work on healing him. Choji stood in front of them to protect them.

The dust took longer this time to settle, but when it did, they were shocked at the sight. In a shallow crater, the ground cracked horrendously beneath him and his weapon stabbed into the ground nearby, Lexaeus lay there, breathing heavily. He was still alive.

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled outside.

"How the hell can that guy still be alive after that onslaught?!" Kiba ranted.

"Geez Louise! I swear this guy is freaking too overpowered!" Tenten ranted.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

With a grunt and a bit of effort, Lexaeus began to sit up. Sakura, Choji, and Lee watched in weary horror. They were too tired to continue the fight, too exhausted and having used up all of their energy in that last series of attacks.

Lexaeus reached out and grasped the blue handle of his Axe Sword. Using it as a crutch, he pulled himself to his feet while still leaning on it.

He smirked at the trio, but it no longer emitted cruelty or contempt. His usually stern face held respect and maybe even a little pride. He nodded firmly at the trio, who were starting to relax, though had confusion in their expressions.

True to his title, he did not say a word as he dispersed into streams of data.

At that moment, everyone, both in and out of the arena took a gasp of relief that Lexaeus was finally defeated.

"Damn. . .just. . .damn. . ." Naruto muttered

"Yeah. . ." Xion and Hinata said in semi-unison.

"That. . .was intense! Hell man, I don't think I would've been able to fight that guy!" Kiba said as Akamaru nodded in agreement.

"Glad that Choji's alright." Shikamaru said as Ino nodded her head in agreement as well.

"Same here with Lee but. . . Did he have to get drunk like that?" Tenten muttered as she palmed her face.

"It will only get tougher from here on. . ." Xion said as she waived her eyes to the portal with what looked like a shield.

Soon, the flash of light appeared again as it whisked them all to watch another vision in the past.

The group reappeared at the Keyblade Graveyard, seemingly at a different area with a recognizable armored man.

"Terra. . ." Xion muttered.

Terra was panting heavily, holding himself up with his Keyblade as he then ripped it off. As he continued to get up, he looked up at the highest piece of earth, starting to glow as his glider appeared as he suddenly started to go up to.

"Xehanort must be there. . ." Sakura muttered.

The group then suddenly started moving in place as they all followed him.

"Whoa!" Naruto yelled as he lost his footing for a moment.

Terra soon made it to the top as they saw Xehanort and Vanitas

Naruto growled at them as his eyes went red for a moment.

"Calm down." Kakashi said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto clenched his hand into a fist as he watched on. "Fine. . ."

Terra's glider then disappeared as he then landed on the platform. His armor soon disappeared as he stared down Xehanort.

"Admirably done. I knew this a journey you could make-" Xehanort started.

The group sneered at him, for all the tricks that he had possibly done to him, Ventus and Aqua.

"Over the unseen wall that divides darkness and light. And I was not wrong. Terra!" He finished as if it was with enjoyment in his voice.

Terra soon held his hand out, ready to summon his Keyblade. "My friend Ven-" The light started to swirl around his hand. "You tell me Xehanort-" The light surged in his hand as it got brighter. "What did you do to him!?"

"Why I did him a favor and freed the darkness inside him." Xehanort started explained.

"All for a damn weapon you bastard. . ." Naruto angrily muttered.

"Alas, poor Ventus never had the fortitude for such strenuous trails."

"XHEANORT!" Terra and Naruto yelled at him in semi-unison. Terra the rushed in as he fought him and Vanitas. The three started clashing blades, two on one as Terra fought against Xehanort and Vanitas. After a while, Terra and Xehanort clashed blades, locked into each other, staring at each other eye to eye.

Xehanort then looked over at Vanitas as he was still in his battle stance. "Go take what Ventus owes you. And take Aqua's life."

Vanitas nodded as he ran towards the edge. Terra gave chase to him, but Xehanort wrapped in front of him, causing him to jump back after Vanitas jumped off the ledge.

"Well that explains where Vanitas came from in the last scene." Kakashi muttered.

"You see how powerless you are to save them?" Xehanort taunted.

"Bastard. . ." Kiba muttered as he and Akamaru then growled at him.

"Savior that rage and despair."

"Why though?" Xion muttered.

"Let it empower you!"

"What is he up to?" Hinata asked.

"You will pay Xehanort! Was my Master- no my father, Eraqus not enough for you? Terra asked as a dark haze started to surround him. "Leave my friends alone!"

"No. . .!" Hinata muttered, wide-eyed and in fear.

"Terra don't!" Xion tried to call out, even though she knew it was pointless.

"Yes, boy, that's it! More! Let your whole heart blacken with anger!" Xehanort demanded as he got into a stance.

Terra started to growl as he then started to roar loudly as the darkness around him expanded to dangerous lengths.

"Where have I seen something like that before?" Sakura wondered as she eyed Naruto.

"Please Sakura, not now." Naruto seriously said as he held Hinata's hand.

Terra and Xehanort started to fight again, but this time it was a losing battle for Xehanort as Terra this time gained the upper hand on him. Terra fought as hard as possible as countered every move that Xehanort made, soon leading to Terra summoning a meteor again like he did during his fight with Eraqus. "Your done!" He called out as he delivered the final blow.

"YES!" Naruto cheered as Kiba and Akamaru smirked in agreement.

"Pay back can be a bitch! CHA!" Sakura said, Ino and Tenten agreeing.

"THAT WAS INDEED A MOST YOUTHFUL FIGHT!" Lee cheered after recovering from his drunken state. Tenten palmed her face again, this time followed by Shino.

Xehanort was panting heavily as he was on his knees, holding himself up with Keyblade. Terra walked up to him, panting as well with his Keyblade in his hand as well. Suddenly the ground started to shake as Terra prepared himself incase of an attack.

"There, you see?" Xehanort asked as he pointed behind Terra.

"Oh no!" Xion said as she, Terra and the group turned around to see a pillar of light.

"What the heck!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"The χ-blade has been forged!" Xehanort announced.

"Ven!" Terra and Xion called out.

"And now Terra, it is time for the final union!" The group turned to see Xehanort bring his Keyblade to his chest. He soon then impaled into his chest as a same light came out of it.

"What!?" Terra and Naruto said in semi-unison as they turned around.

"What is he-?" Kakashi asked, wide-eyed.

"Oh shit!" Hinata said as she started to panic.

Xion's jaw dropped slightly. "THAT WAS HIS PLAN!?"

"What is he doing?" Shino asked in a serious tone.

"HE'S PULLING AN OROCHIMARU!"

"What do you mean!?" Sakura and Ino asked in panicked tones and in semi-unison.

"Jiraiya once told me about the Immortality Jutsu that Orochimaru used. THIS IS SORT OF THE SAME THING EXCEPT TRANSFERRING THE HEART TO A NEW BODY!" Xion explained, still in a panicking tone.

"Troublesome. . ." Shikamaru angrily muttered as he then heard a pop. He turned to see that Choji accidentally destroyed his bag of chips.

"At last our moment is here." Xehanort's Keyblade soon disappeared as an orb of light came out of him. "Out with the old and brittle vessel, and in with a younger, stronger new one!" Xehanort's body started to glow as Eraqus did before he faded away.

"SONOFA-" Naruto yelled as he wanted to charge at him.

"So that why. . ." Kakashi muttered as he watched on.

"I swore I would survive. . . and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War!" Xehanort stated.

"Keyblade War!?" Everyone except Hinata and Xion said. They all then turned towards them.

'We'll tell you all later." The two Keyblade Masters said in semi-unison.

"And now it is your darkness that shall be the ark that sustains me!" He brought his heart down towards him as he then launched it at Terra.

"NO!" Naruto yelled as he ran in front of Terra. As he tried to protect him, Terra summoned his armor as the heart flew right through Naruto and went into Terra. "DAMN IT!"

The group then looked back at Xehanort as smirked before fading away, like Eraqus did before. Suddenly, they all heard the sounds of metal being dropped onto the ground. As Naruto looked behind him, the rest of the group looked back at Terra, he changed for the worse.

"No. . ." Xion muttered as she and the group looked at the now silver haired and yellow eyed Terra.

"This heart belongs again to darkness." He started saying in a familiar voice. "All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end." The group vividly remember what another had said during the their first Chunin Exams. "The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it. It grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came."

"What a bunch of crap. . ." Naruto angrily muttered, clenching his fist as he and the group sneered at him.

Terra-Xehanort summon Xehanort's Keyblade as he walked away from the armor.

"So. . .that's it? Terra's gone?" Kiba muttered, still completely pissed at what just happened.

As Terra-Xehanort was walking, the area went completely black and soon an orange barrier that looked like there were made of chains that surrounded the arena, trapping him in. "What?"

"Eh?" Naruto said as he gave a look of disbelief.

"What just happened?" Kiba asked as he looked at Xion.

"Like I know!" Xion then turned to see something and smiled. "Oh yeah. . . Xehanort's going down now!"

"Huh?" The rest of the group practically asked as they and Terra-Xehanort looked to see Terra's armor kneeling and holding his Keyblade.

"How?" Kakashi muttered.

"Your body submits, your heart succumbs-" Terra-Xehanort started.

Naruto smirked at the resolution. "Time for a beat down!"

"So why does your mind resist?!" Terra-Xehanort yelled out as he got into Terra's stance.

The armor then started to pick itself up as it took the Keyblade out of the ground and got into the same stance, ready to face Xehanort and take the body back to its rightful owner. The two then started to clash, evenly matched in power. The more active members of the group cheered for the armor as they fought.

"Take him down!"

"Beat that prick!"

"Get your body back!"

". . .That just sounds so wrong Ino. . ."

WHACK!

"Shut up Kiba!"  
>Akamaru whined a little, but it was forgotten when Xion started to pet him.<p>

"THIS IS AN EVEN MORE YOUTHFUL BATTLE THEN I THOUGHT! THE ARMOR OF A POWERFUL WARRIOR WITH THE MIND OF SAID WARRIOR, FIGHTING TO RECLAIM HIS LOST BODY THAT WAS TAKEN BY A GREAT EVIL! GAI-SENSEI WOULD BE SO PROUD OF THIS MAN FOR HAVING SUCH A STRONG MIND TO RESIST SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" Lee happily ranted as tears ran down his eyes.

Tenten sweat-dropped, but had to admit that he was right. "Beat the bastard." She plainly said.

Even with the power of darkness on his side, Terra-Xehanort was having a difficult time with the armor with the mind of Terra. Terra-Xehanort did get a few hits in, especially when he started summoning his own version of Meteor, except they homed in on the Terra-Armor. The battle soon ended when the Terra-Armor did an Ars Solum, the final strike being the finisher.

"Alright! He beat him!"

"That'll teach him!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Kakashi nodded his head as Terra-Xehanort became knocked out.

Terra-Armor stared down his body as he went back into the kneeling position.

"What's he doing?" Naruto wondered.

Suddenly the ground started to shake and the group saw an explosion heading towards them.

"What the heck!?" Kiba yelled as he tried to run away from the explosion as it passed the group.

Up above, they all saw that the clouds began to cover the Kingdom Hearts and it disappeared.

"What's done is done. . ." Sai said.

"Indeed." Shino said.

"But is it really over?" Shikamaru muttered as he looked at Luxord's cards, squeezing it in his hands.

"Aqua, Ven. . .One day I'll set this right." Terra's voice said as the group was enveloped in light, causing them to shield their eyes.

The group reopened their eyes to find themselves back at the garden, Choji struggling to hold Lexaeus's Axe Sword. "Heavy. . .really heavy. Tenten, if you could?"

"No problem. . ." Tenten said as she took out a new scroll and seal the Axe Sword into it. "Here you go. You sure you want it?"

Choji nodded his head. "Yeah. . .after going through that last fight and seeing all that, I'll need to work harder.

As the rest of the group went over to praise Sakura, Choji and Lee for their victory, Xion eyed the portal with shield on it as she silently summoned her keyblades. "Sorry guys but. . .this is something I gotta do. . ." She muttered as she lunged her keyblade into the air.


	51. Chapter 51

Hinata Chronicles Chapter 51: The Chilly Alchemists, Creator Versus Creation

* * *

><p>Xion stood on the icy floor inside a dome made of frozen water, eyes closed and keyblades in her hands. In front of her was someone she wasn't regretting on wanting to fight, the shield-wielding member of the Organization, Vexen. Outside the dome were Shikamaru and Shino, trying to see past the foggy ice.<p>

She then opened her eyes and glared at the scientist. A kick to a nearby dent in the ice and she started sliding towards Vexen. "It's time to end this. . .father. . ." she said.

Earlier. . .

As everyone congratulated on the team's victory, Xion began to gather her magic. Luckily for her, she was behind the group so no one noticed when she summoned her keyblades.

"Stopga. . ." Xion whispered as she thrust one of her Keyblades into the air. The magic pulsed over the area, stopping everyone as they were about to turn to her for the next battle.

She took deep breaths, feeling her magic energy weaken from having used a powerful spell. Reaching into her pocket, Xion pulled out an ether she had saved from the battle with Maleficent and consumed its bland-tasting contents, feeling her energy being restored. She then walked passed them and placed a note in Hinata's hand.

"Sorry, there's something I gotta. . .no, something I have to do," Turning back around, she then glared at the portal with the silhouette of a shield on it. "Vexen. . .I'm coming for you. . ." She muttered as she jumped into it.

* * *

><p>Back outside, the world was frozen as though somebody pressed the 'Pause' button to a movie. After a couple of minutes, time resumed, the rising falls resuming their mysterious defiance to gravity and everyone began moving again.<p>

Naruto blinked a couple of times before shaking his head for a moment. "What. . .just happened?"

"I don't know. . .it was really weird," Sakura said, shivering as she held herself.

"It was like time was frozen for a moment," Ino said. Nearby, Tenten, Kiba and Akamaru nodded in agreement.

Lee looked around for a moment when he realized something. "Where is Xion?" Everyone started to look around, but they couldn't find her.

"I think I know. . ." Hinata declared, getting everyone's attention. In her hand was a folded piece of paper with her name on it. She then walked over to the computer seat and sat down. Opening it, she began to read the note out loud.

"Everyone, by the time you read this, the Stopga spell had worn off and I had entered the portal with the next Organization member."

* * *

><p>The grass crunched beneath her feet and there was a slight breeze in the air. Xion looked around, feeling a pang of nostalgia and sadness at the setting before her. The sky was painted in orange, yellow, red, and pink, the colors mixing and fading towards blue-violet. In front of her stood a tall and imposing iron gate, a large lock keeping it shut, and on either side of it were the tan brick walls, that surrounded the courtyard and the mansion in the back, topped in steel spikes to ward off intruders. The two-story mansion looked abandoned, covered in leafy vines and two rows of broken pillars leading up to the front door. One of the rooms on the second floor looked to be new, the curtains clean and white, casting shadows and illusions of ghosts as the open window let the breeze in. Behind her and all around, there was a forest thick in foliage and a deep darkness softened only by the sunlight shining through breaks in the treetops.<p>

Old and out-of-use, the entire estate was rather unattractive unless one was a ghost hunter. "And who would've thought that there would be an elaborate laboratory under it?" Xion thought.

She gripped her keyblades, readying herself for her opponent.

* * *

><p>"She's already in there!? But why!?" Naruto asked, but was shushed by Sakura.<p>

Hinata continued to read out loud the letter, ignoring her boyfriend's outburst. "I know you are all wondering why I did what I did. All of you already know that originally I was a replica that was made to absorb Sora's memories and become another Sora, used for the Organization."

"Throughout my time having fun with Roxas and Axel in the Organization, I unintentionally started absorbing Roxas, growing stronger while Roxas got weaker. Soon, I left the Organization after realizing that they were just using us; Roxas left afterwards. My last encounter with him was back in Twilight Town where we had a massive battle. I lost and was reabsorbed into Roxas, who then went back to Sora."

* * *

><p>She took a deep breath and glanced at the sky, eyes watering in sadness as memories flew through her mind. Though she cannot see it because of the forest, she knew without a doubt that the sunset, gazed at by many and witness to many meetings with friends and ice-cream, still shone in its own frozen beauty. A lone tear glistened in the cool crimson light, twinkling and reflecting the sky, as it ran down her face.<p>

A sad smile graced her features before she reached up to wipe her eyes and anymore tears. "It was nice while it lasted," she thought, remembering the good times she had with her two best friends.

* * *

><p>"Xion…" Hinata thought sadly. Despite the sadness, she continued.<p>

"Soon, I came back because of an accident that let me returned. Unfortunately, this included Anse-I mean, Xehanort's Heartless. You all know what happened from then on."

Hinata paused for a moment and glanced up from the letter to see everyone nod.

"The point is, I had fun during my time in Konoha. The friends I made, the secrets I learned, and finally my redemption for what I did in the past."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Shino quietly commented, voicing everyone's inner thoughts.

"Now. . .this is the last trial that I'm going through. . .a creation fighting it's creator as I break the last chain from the man that made my original replica body. Organization member IV, Vexen, the Chilly Alchemist. When you finish reading this, I want you to send Shikamaru and Shino in with me. We'll need a good strategy against this guy."

* * *

><p>As Xion calmed herself down, data began to appear. She quickly readied herself, gripping her keyblades. "This is it. . ." she thought.<p>

The data gathered and swirled. Swirling tighter and tighter, the temperature in the entire area dropped lower and lower. So focused were she that she didn't notice that frost began to cover the foliage and ice swept over the land like a pale shadow. Green turned to white, rusted tan became frosty blue, and the once colorful sky was now a dead grey like the color of old bones.

Breaths puffing out in miniature clouds, Xion glanced around. Her eyes widened when she saw that the ice around her and the swirling data began to rise to form a solid, thick dome. She glanced behind her and saw that the frozen dome had cut her off from the exit.

"I guess if anyone else comes. . .they'll only be able to watch," She muttered.

* * *

><p>Though, Hinata didn't see it, the two ninja mentioned nodded in acceptance.<p>

"His portal is the one with the shield on it. I'll be waiting. . .your friend, Xion," Hinata finished.

There was a brief silence before Sakura spoke up. "So what should we do now?"

Hinata sighed as she folded up the letter and pocketed it. "Well, there's one thing we can do." She then turned to Shikamaru and Shino. "Do you two think you can handle it?"

Shikamaru rubbed his head in annoyance. "As troublesome as it is. . .Yeah, we think we can handle it."

"I concur," Shino responded.

Hinata then bowed to the two. "Thanks guys. . .Help Xion through this," she said with a grateful smile and pointed to Vexen's portal. "There it is. Good luck."

The two nodded and headed into the portal. Everyone then went to the computer, Hinata sitting down onto the computer seat and opening the inside footage, only for everyone to go as pale as a sheet at what they saw.

"Oh boy. . ." Kakashi sighed, rubbing his head all the while.

"The hell man!?" Naruto yelled.

"I don't think Shikamaru and Shino will be much help during this fight. . ." Hinata said, everyone else nodding in agreement. "I guess this is Xion's last battle," She thought as she and her friends continued to look on.

* * *

><p>The Chilly Academic stood there, eyes gleaning at Xion as though she were a dissected frog or other unlucky specimen. She only gave him a cold stare in return.<p>

It was very cold in the dome, but because of the magic from Yen Sid and the three good fairies, her clothes protected her from most of the biting-cold temperature. And because of the mysterious magical properties of the keyblade, her fingers weren't frozen to the handles. But she held a tight grip on them, keeping her guard up even though Vexen hadn't summoned his shield yet.

A smirk on his bony face, Vexen began to chuckle, his bright green eyes still on Xion with malicious intent. "Well, well. It seems that you are one of the last of the Organization to still be alive, including Number XIII. Though I wouldn't call it being 'alive' considering that you're even less than a Nobody," he sneered.

"Unlike you," Xion retorted. "I have my own heart, making me my own Somebody."

Vexen's eyes narrowed at that. "Humph. As expected," he said. "You would dare insult your superiors after disobeying orders to absorb Number XIII and become Sora."

"I'm not a part of the Organization anymore!" Xion shouted angrily. "So you're no superior of mine!"

"How troublesome. . ." a muffled voice muttered, interrupting the two.

They both looked over to see Shikamaru and Shino exit from the portal, but outside of the dome. Their forms were distorted by the ice and slightly blurry.

"Good, they're here," Xion thought as she turned back to Vexen. "But they can't get in. . .Guess this is my final battle with the Organization."

Vexen had an eyebrow slightly raised before he smirked. "Well this is intriguing. . . One who can manipulate his own shadow and another who commands insects." He chuckled darkly at Xion's surprised expression. "Yes, I've been observing all the past battles you and your friends have done in the cavern. Certainly you remember that we're technically in a holographic field created by the computer?"

Then he frowned, slight frustration on his face. "Unfortunately, the computer's range is limited to the edges of the cavern. So, after reviewing the data, I've decided that yours is insufficient and removed the variables of your teammates. Though I prefer to have the Demon Fox container here so I may actually create a profile of him, I guess I'll have to settle for those two specimens."

"Don't talk about my friends like that!" Xion protested, incensed.

"Hmph," Vexen scoffed. "Very well then. Since you're so insistent. . ."

A flick of his wrist and Xion had to jump out of the way from an ice shard flying her way. She leaped back further as icicles suddenly rose towards her. She was reminded of Lexaeus' stalagmites of rock and stone.

She landed with her back to the frozen barrier and raised her keyblades. "Reflect!" Xion shouted as the magical shield protected her from the barrage of ice shards. Crashing against the spell, they shattered into tiny pieces and a cold mist, obscuring the views of her and the two ninjas behind her.

Before the mist could dissipate, Xion quickly aimed one of her keyblades. "Firaga!" she chanted and shot a fireball at the scientist. She heard an explosion and when the mist faded away, she saw that a wall of ice had blocked her attack.

The wall melted, revealing the Chilly Academic with his shield summoned. It was blue outlined in cold silver, shaped like a broad upside-down Nobody symbol ending in a sharp point. Five spikes of the same shade of blue protruded from the round top, the middle one larger and more menacing than the others.

"So you have improved. Interesting. . . ." Vexen said with intrigue.

With his freehand, he placed his forefinger and thumb on his temple, looking as though he had a headache. He then seemed to have thrown his shield away and behind him, but instead of hitting the icy ground, it floated and circled around him. It suddenly stopped point down in front of the scientist, ready to defend him. His other hand now empty, he shot it forward and the shield floating in front of him flashed a pale of blue, accompanied by an icy fog. The temperature around the two combatants seemed to have dropped further at this, cold enough to freeze the ground into sleek ice.

Xion raised her keyblades but instead, the ground underneath her flashed. She looked down to see a dark blue Nobody symbol outlined in white under her feet, the patch of ice it was glowing on a shade or two darker than the rest of the area. Then a ring of digital coding quickly rose and circled her before fading away.

She was confused but decided to play it safe and run towards Vexen, keyblades at the ready. But the moment she took a step forwards, she slipped on the ice. "Ahh!" she yelled in surprise, arms waving around in an attempt to regain her balance. She found herself sliding forwards quickly, escaping that strange Nobody symbol and passing Vexen before colliding with the ice wall on the other side. It was rather comical.

* * *

><p>Outside of the dome and in the cavern, everyone either sweat-dropped or face-palmed at the scene.<p>

* * *

><p>Xion fell backwards with a yelp, hurting her tailbone and back in the process. With a small groan of pain, she got back up to her feet, using her keyblades to steady herself. She noticed that the Nobody symbol was slowly moving towards her. She didn't have much time to ponder it as icicles were flying towards her.<p>

"Reflect!" she cried with a raised keyblade, using the other one to steady herself on the thin ice. The spell released a rebounding pulse of energy but was thwarted by Vexen's shield. The pulse dispersed when it hit the shield, damaging the immediate area around him.

Seeing the slight dents in the ice field gave Xion an idea. Raising a keyblade to the sky she shouted, "Thundaga!"

Dozens of lightning bolts rained down, most of them heading for the scientist. Vexen quickly created an ice barrier around himself, protecting him further. Some of the bolts were reflected off the ice barrier, further damaging the field. Soon the spell ended and Xion saw cracks and dents littered the ground. Chunks of ice were also scattered around the area, thrown up from the thunder spell. There were still patches of slick, undamaged ice, though, and the immediate area around the Chilly Academic was also untouched from the attack. Unfortunately, the ice barrier around the two combatants was also undamaged.

The glacier-like barrier soon melted away, leaving behind a smirking Vexen. "So you've managed to solve the problem. Your mental capacity has grown; unfortunately, it seems you still have too much freewill. It will have to be adjusted among future projects. Thank you for the data, Replica."

Getting back into her fighting stance, Xion closed her eyes, calming herself down from the insult (even though it was technically true). 'This is it . . . ,' she thought.

~* end flashback*~  
>Snapping open her eyes, she glared at the scientist. Kicking off from a nearby dent, she launched herself, sliding and using the stray chunks of ice as leverage. "It's time to end this . . . father . . ." she said.<p>

* * *

><p>Back outside the dome and in the cavern, everyone froze at the statement, muffled by the ice.<p>

"WHA . . . ?!" Naruto and Kiba shouted. With Akamaru, their jaws dropped at what they just heard.

Hinata looked concernedly at the screen. "Xion . . ."

"The hell?" Tenten shouted.

"I don't get it!" Ino shouted in confusion. "How can this creepy guy be Xion's father?"

"Or even related at all?" Sakura added.

"It's actually pretty simple Banshees." Sai said with a smile. He was severely punched in the head by all three women, resulting in three big bruises and a few cracks on the ground from his fallen body.

"He has a point, though," Kakashi said, sighing at Sai's predicament. Everyone turned to look at him in confusion. "Think about it. Even though we don't really like it, Xion's a Replica. And Vexen is the 'Chilly Academic;' a scientist, no doubt."

Hinata's pale eyes widened in realization. "Oh!" she said, turning back to the screen. "I understand, Xion. This man . . . To you, he's your creator."

"It's going to be really awkward after this . . ." Choji said after swallowing a mouthful of chips.

"This man looks most un-youthful!" Lee said, glaring at the screen.

* * *

><p>Directly outside the dome, Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his forehead in agitation. "Troublesome . . ." he said.<p>

"At least she regained her footing now," Shino said before turning to the genius. "Do you have a plan to help her?"

Shikamaru was silent of a moment, narrowing his eyes at the dome and the two figures within it. ". . . Sort of . . . But let's wait for when things get out of hand," he replied.

* * *

><p>Swiping downwards, Xion's first strike was immediately blocked by the shield. Her second keyblade rose to reach around it, but the shield moved, locking the teeth of her first keyblade into the spikes, and twisted the arm away to catch the other weapon with one of the holes near its pointed end.<p>

"No good," Vexen smirked. The shield surged forward, flinging her away. She twisted in the air until she landed back on her feet, stumbling only a little bit on the ice. She pulled one of her keyblades back and threw it in a Strike Raid. It spun through the air like a saw blade before an icicle quickly rose from the ground, intercepting it. The keyblade's trajectory was changed off-course, but soon a fireball burned through the ice and continued its path for the scientist. Vexen's shield blocked the spell and it burst into fiery smoke when it hit.

It was enough of a distraction, however, for Xion to slide to his unprotected back. Vexen cried out in surprise and pain at the unexpected attack before spinning around, grabbing his shield in the process, and slashed at the ex-member. Xion ducked, calling back her keyblade and raising the other one to strike again, but was thrown away as an icicle rose from right under her feet. Her vision burst into stars and pain as the back of her head brutally smacked into a particularly large chunk of frozen rock.

With a hiss of pain, she sat up. She immediately swallowed back the bile in the back of her throat, her head swarming in dizziness and pain. "Dammit, that hurt," she thought as she got back to her feet. "I hope I don't have a concussion or something."

"Reflect!" she shouted, the semi-transparent barrier forming around her. The two spinning snowflakes, large and made out of light blue ice, struck the barrier before dissipating into a light mist. The barrier shattered, sending out a pulse of energy that was blocked by Vexen's shield.

Xion wasted no time and kicked off the large rock, rushing towards the Chilly Academic. She halted midway and raised her keyblades to defend herself from the shield that suddenly appeared before her, Vexen behind it. Like a two-ton elephant, the shield rammed into her, making her slide back about a meter or two, before twisting. The teeth of her keyblades became caught in the spikes and her left arm overlapped her right, impeding her movement. But she stood her ground as Vexen continued to push against her, digging her heels into the ice until she stopped at a large crack on the floor.

Vexen started to laugh wildly as his shield and Xion's keyblades were locked in place. "Most interesting. Who would have thought that one of my replicas would become this skilled at the keyblade; and even able to dual-wield them."

"Well, I guess actually having a heart can do that for a person," Xion said sarcastically. "Now let's try one of the moves I made from watching Hinata fight. . .even though it made me dizzy last time I used it." she thought.

She suddenly released her keyblades and spun gracefully away as Vexen stumbled forward, the opposing force previously pushing against him suddenly missing. Before he could regain his balance, Xion had re-summoned her keyblades back into her hands and rushed forward. The fourth member cried out in pain as Xion rapidly delivered blows to his exposed back before he spun around, shield up to defend himself.

Xion, however, was undeterred by the very defensive shield, switching one of her keyblades into a reverse-grip and she began to spin. Like a whirlwind, she attacked Vexen, always quickly spinning around Frozen Pride when he tried to defend himself. Using the ice to her advantage, her rotation started to accelerate, continuously slashing at the scientist like a buzz saw.

* * *

><p>Outside the dome, Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Shino was silent beside him (like usual). They both watched the fight intently, watching for any openings in case of trouble and they would have to intervene. Although they didn't doubt that Xion was strong, they couldn't help but worry.<p>

'She must've learned it from watching the Hyuga clan's rotation attacks,' Shino thought as Xion began her spinning attack.

Suddenly, they tensed as they saw something suspicious on the scientist's face. Even though he grunted and cried out in pain during the attack, there was a smirk on his lips and a strange glint in his bright green eyes.

What happened next made both of them curse and Shikamaru turned to his scarfed friend. "Get ready," was all he said. Shino nodded and lifted his arms slightly, insects crawling under his skin in anticipation, before beginning the plan.

* * *

><p>The teeth of one of her keyblades caught onto the edge of Vexen's shield, hooking and flinging it far away, where it dug itself deep into the frozen ground. Now that the shield was gone, Xion pulled her previously outstretched arms into herself, increasing her rotation speed further, and attacked Vexen head-on. This was short-lived, however, as Vexen raised a hand to the air and encased himself in a pillar of ice, icicles protruding outwards like spikes.<p>

Unable to stop herself, Xion tripped on one of the icicles near the floor. She rolled sideways into the large pillar of ice, her clothes and skin getting cut up by the other icicles in the process. Luckily, she missed the bigger ones that would have run straight through her, but it still didn't mean that the other, smaller icicles weren't painful at all. It also didn't help that she was feeling utterly sick to her stomach from having spun around so much.

The pillar of ice suddenly exploded, sharp shards and icicles flying everywhere. Xion was blown away, getting further cut up in the process. She landed painfully on her back, tucking in instinctively and rolling a few times before coming to a complete stop by the round wall of the ice dome. Again, the back of her head slammed brutally, adding stars to the shifting world around her.

Disoriented, she didn't see the rapidly approaching danger, but she did feel it. She cried out in a short scream as something pierced her right shoulder, something so cold that it burned. Quickly dropping the keyblade in her left hand, she laid a hand on the object, flinching not only from how cold it was, but also from how it sent a painful jolt through her nerves when she touched it. She turned her head to look, but had to stop as her head swam and her stomach churned, bile rising to the back of her throat. She closed her eyes and swallowed it back down. Eyes closed, Xion no longer saw the rolling, rocking world around her, but she also didn't see the ice pillar disappear, revealing the mad scientist.

In Vexen's hand was a small potion and he consumed it before throwing the bottle away, where it disappeared in a blue-white cloud of smoke. What wounds were visible glowed a faint green as they healed. Brushing dust off his shoulders, he made his way to his embedded shield.

"I admit; that was rather surprising," he said as he pulled on the shield's handle. A few tugs later and it was once more in his hold, resting against his arm lazily.

"Although, it seems that you have not fully . . . mastered such a maneuver. Your strength and defense have most definitely increased. Your speed has especially improved. However, by my calculations, you are still relatively weak compared to the original. But then again, you are just a prototype," Vexen sneered, stepping menacingly over to Xion.

For her part, she was still sitting up against the round, cold wall, a hand to her head and the other on her middle in an attempt quell her churning stomach and the pounding headache. The sound of crunching ice as Vexen stepped on a small, stray icicle had her looking up. Squinting her eyes as the world seemed to have tilted from the motion, she saw her creator raise his shield up. The pale light of the setting sun glinted off of Frozen Pride's blue spikes menacingly.

"My research has greatly improved," Vexen continued. "Future Replicas will be near-perfect copies. I say near perfect for they will be far better, more advanced than their originals. And unlike you and your rebellion, they will be completely obedient and shall fulfill their objectives. You are no longer needed, you obsolete specimen!" He swiped down, aiming to end her life. Xion closed her eyes in fear, instinctively raising her hands in a futile attempt to block the blow.

"What?!" she heard Vexen shout. She slowly opened her eyes and lowered her arms, finding that her dizziness was lessening, only to snap them wide in shock at how close the big, middle spike of Frozen Pride was. Looking over the shield, she saw that the mad scientist was still, like someone had pressed the 'pause' button. He appeared to be struggling against the invisible binds and he was glaring at something behind her. That's when she noticed that, strangely enough, the inside of the ice dome wasn't as bright as before.

"Troublesome," she heard and she immediately looked behind her, pausing slightly midway at the small throb in her head.

Her eyes widened a bit at the sight and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Guys," Xion muttered, relieved. Though their forms were blurry because of the ice, she saw that Shikamaru was positioned the same way as Vexen was. Beside him, Shino had his arms raised towards the dome and she looked up to see that a cloud of bugs was covering part of the dome; the reason for the slight darkness.

"Xion," Shino said. "Though we respect that this is your fight, we couldn't just let him kill you."

"Yeah, sorry for interfering," Shikamaru said. "You feeling okay, though?"

A heartbeat pause before Xion nodded. "Yeah," she answered. She got back to her feet, slower than usual. "Thanks guys."

"Insolent pests!" Vexen hissed from his locked state. He was struggling against the jutsu and seemed to be winning; the Nara genius was starting to sweat in the effort to keep the scientist immovable.

Xion got back up to her feet and ignored the throb in her head, raising a keyblade to cast a Cure spell. She immediately felt relieved, most of the wounds healing and her headache lessening significantly. She looked to her former creator with determination in her eyes. Rushing to him, she shouted, "You're finished!" and raised a keyblade to end the battle.

"I think not!" Vexen sneered, eyes narrowing to slits. He was suddenly encased in ice, looking like a frozen statue. Even though Shino's bugs blocked off most of the light entering the dome, some rays still managed to shine through. The light hit Vexen's frozen form, reflecting from it to the rest of the dome, scattering further because of the multitude of angles from the stray icicles and frozen rocks littering the ground. It wasn't as bright in the dome as before Shino's bugs covered the field, but it was enough to break Shikamaru's binding shadow.

Xion's keyblade was less than an inch away from Vexen when icicles burst forth, stopping her attack and throwing her back. The Chilly Academic was still in his frozen form, preventing Shikamaru from locking onto his shadow again. A strange, creaking noise came from above and she looked up to see that icicles were growing rapidly from the dome itself. Some managed to pierce Shino's bugs, but most of the flying insects flew away. Having to dodge the icicles, the cloud of bugs constantly shrunk and expanded, allowing more light to filter into the ice dome at times.

CRACK!

That was the only warning she had before Vexen's ice form suddenly exploded. She managed to cast a Reflect spell, but some shards of ice had already managed to cut into her skin. The rebounding force of the spell after shattering blew away the mist that resulted from the breaking ice. Vexen, freed, was glaring angrily at her, shield once more levitating in front of him.

"Firaga!" Xion shouted, a fireball flying from one of her keyblades. Vexen blocked with his shield, a burst of smoke engulfing him for a moment before an icicle shot towards her. Xion smacked it away with her keyblades and reeled her arm back before throwing her keyblade in a Strike Raid. She rushed after it, sliding on the ice.

Vexen's shield blocked the spinning Keyblade, but he was left exposed as Xion slid in and slashed his side. He cried out in pain before he swept a hand out and Xion leaped away just as two large snowflakes spun around him.

"You're pushing the last of my patience, Replica!" Vexen said angrily and waved his hand again.

His shield dug itself into the ground and a line of clusters of needle-thin icicles sprouted from the ground, heading in her direction. Xion slid away, but the icicles followed her. She jumped over frozen rocks and slid on clean patches of ice, trying to get away from the icicles. She couldn't even get close to the fourth member because he had surrounded himself in more sharp frozen needles. He was wielding his shield again and a hand was up to the sky, a grey mist gathering in it.

* * *

><p>Outside of the dome, Shikamaru and Shino were having trouble of their own. When Vexen encased himself in ice, Shino quickly commanded his bugs to spread themselves over the entire area, but it was too late and the reflecting light destroyed Shikamaru's shadow hold. They had to jump out of the way as large icicles rapidly rose from the ice dome. Shino's bugs scrambled in a shifting cloud as they, too, dodged the icicles.<p>

"Damn troublesome," Shikamaru cursed and Shino didn't need to look to see that the bugs close to the needles were suddenly freezing, dropping from the sky. Though he was confident that his insects were still alive, frozen but alive, the rate at which they were dropping like hail was pricking his concern. It didn't help that the atmosphere around them was getting colder.

The icicles covering the dome suddenly shot towards them, forcing them to dodge again and split up in the process. One pierced Shino, but his form dispersed into more bugs, revealing that it was a bug clone. On the other side of the field, Shikamaru pulled out a kunai, an explosive tag attached to it, and threw it at the dome. It buried itself at the base of one of the icicles and then exploded, smoke and ice flying everywhere on his side of the field.

When it cleared, he let out a small breath of frustration. Before him, where the kunai had detonated, there was only a shallow dip in the ice, a radial area of smooth ice surrounding it. Worse yet, that dip was already freezing over. Icicles quickly grew from the recently recovered ice and soon there was no evidence that he attacked that damn ice dome at all.

He leaped away, dodging another icicle. Shikamaru ran around the field, hopping onto the edges of the brick wall beside him. As he drew nearer to where Shino was, he kept an eye out for any break in the barrier and the battle within it.

* * *

><p>"Reflect!" Xion cried and the magical barrier appeared around her, protecting her from the ice needles. It glowed white for a brief moment then it exploded, clearing away the rest of the ice needles and cold mist.<p>

A loud cackle made her turn towards its source, stumbling a little from the slippery ice. Vexen had his head thrown back, laughing as the mad scientist he was. His shield was wielded in one hand and the other was covered in a dark grey fog. He soon finished his bout of insanity and looked back to the ex-Organization member with a smirk.

"The research is complete," Vexen said cryptically. "I have enough data for a test run. Now it is time to perfect it. And why not kill two birds with one stone, as they say?"

"What are you talking about?" Xion asked, confused, but nevertheless prepared herself as her former creator raised his hand towards her.

Only, it wasn't towards her, exactly; it looked more like he was aiming for something over her shoulder and to the side. Her eyes widened in realization and she looked behind her. Through the thick ice she saw someone, Shino from the fluttering of his scarf, dodge an icicle that was aimed at him. Another form, Shikamaru, leaped in to deflect another ice shard that was about to pierce Shino's exposed side. They stood back-to-back, defending each other as more icicles flew towards them. They didn't see the dark grey mist that was seeping from beneath the dome, concealed by the icicles.

Xion turned back to the Chilly Academic and charged with keyblades raised. "I don't think so!" she shouted as she got closer, aiming to stop whatever he was doing.

Vexen merely cackled as they were once more locked in place, the other arm still raised towards her friends. "No good!" he exclaimed. Ice began to form over his shield and Xion immediately pushed away. Unfortunately, she didn't notice that the soles of her feet were frozen to the ground, making her stumble until her back hit the floor. As she fell, one of her keyblades was ripped out of her hands, frozen to the shield that jerked away. The ice grew steadily, covering her calves and immobilizing her further. She was left to hold herself up by her arms, the ice growing and pinning her legs down.

"Even though you solved the problem of the clean ice field, you have failed in solving the real problem," Vexen said disdainfully before smirking.

He redirected the shield-less arm towards the sky and Xion felt the ground beneath her grow colder. She looked down only to gasp in surprise. Below her was the dark circle with the Nobody symbol glowing on it; it was even darker now and had tints of dark blue and purple. She'd forgotten about it.

* * *

><p>"Dammit, I forgot about that thing," Naruto cursed glaring at the screen.<p>

He and everyone else in the Cavern had been silent for a while, too concentrated on the battle to converse with each other. It didn't stop them from cursing the Chilly Academic, though.

"Bastard," Kiba growled at the man on the screen, echoed by Akamaru.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "It's been following her all this time," he said. "I thought it was some sort of tracker, especially for those ice needles. But it's too slow for that."

"He mentioned something about gathering data," Hinata pointed out. "But I don't understand what he means about that."

Kakashi was silent for a moment before replying, "Looks like we're about to find out."

* * *

><p>"What the -!?" Xion exclaimed before the Nobody symbol flashed and disappeared, cutting her off. The dark circle expanded beneath her before suddenly shrinking and flying towards Vexen like a meteor. The fourth member caught it in his free hand, the grey mist mixing with the dark vapors that were escaping it. He then outstretched it towards her friends outside of the dome.<p>

The dark grey mist that was seeping out of the edges of the dome suddenly turned the same mix of tinted black and swirling grey. It pooled in front of Shikamaru and Shino before it bloomed upwards like a balloon. It continued to grow bigger, surpassing the top of the ice dome.

* * *

><p>"Wall of Insects Jutsu," Shino said. Bugs seeped from his body and began to rotate around him and Shikamaru, guarding them against the onslaught of icicles.<p>

When the swirling cloud of insects stopped and dispersed, they were surprised to see a dark grey mist on the ground in front of them. They tensed, preparing themselves for an attack. The mist expanded out of the floor, growing larger and larger until it was taller than the mansion in the back. Then it shifted, shaping into something that looked human.

The mist dissolved, leaving behind a humanoid figure, wielding two swords that looked like a weird combination of silver/pink Nobody symbols and red/gold keyblades without the key chains. It wore strange black and silver clothing with dull red armor near the waist. Golden arrows covered its 'feet' and fluttering from its shoulders in an invisible wind were two golden ribbons. Its collar stuck out to the back and separated into two sharp silver and pink wing-like structures. The most interesting feature was the monster's head and helmet; it almost looked like a triangle with two big dark brown spikes sticking out of the sides and the red faceplate was shaped into the Nobody symbol with the topmost spike jutting out like a large horn. With two the other two spikes angling across and over the forehead area, it almost looked like a crown with three spikes.

All in all, it looked very familiar. . . .

* * *

><p>Wide blue eyes could only stare in horror at what had appeared on the other side of the ice dome. "No. . . ." she thought.<p>

Cackling ripped her attention away and she turned back to the maniacal scientist. "You do remember this, don't you?" Vexen said after his laughter had died down. "Number XIII may have been able to defeat it last time, but now it is far greater than it once was! I have improved it and brought it to its fullest potential! And it's all thanks to you and your data, No. _i_."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru and Shino were shocked still at the sight of the monster. They were forcibly snapped out of it to reach up and cover their ears when the monster, though it didn't appear to have a mouth, let out a loud roar. The sound grated against their ears, sounding empty and like screeching metal.<p>

Their ears were still ringing after it was over and they quickly leapt away when it swung its swords down. Shikamaru threw a few kunai at it, each one with an explosive tag attached to them, and they landed on various places on its body. A heartbeat later, they all exploded. After the dust clear, the only damage he could see appeared to be on the silver Nobody symbol on its chest.

"There!" Shikamaru thought. The monster swung at them again, also slamming its blades onto the floor, creating shockwaves that blew them back.

Shino helped Shikamaru up from where they landed at the edge of the clearing. "That symbol on its chest is the weak point," Shikamaru told Shino.

Shino nodded. "It has a long range so we need to stop its movements," he informed.

"Yeah, yeah," the lazy genius replied. "This is just too troublesome."

They tensed as the monster raised its blades again. But instead of slashing at them, it crossed its blades in front of its chest and the two ninjas were suddenly blasted away. At the same time, a silver vortex appeared on the ground in front of it. The two were immediately pulled towards it and the moment they their feet touched the center, ice began to form on their legs and freeze them to the spot.

The blades became outlined in a pale blue white and the tips of its ribbons started to flash brightly. It then joined the two blades together, pointing straight up. With another metallic screech, it sent bright beams of light towards the sky from each point. They watched as the beams became a single speck of light in the flaming sky for a moment before they came back down; but they seemed to have multiplied.

Many missed them, flashing a brilliant white with each impact. Unfortunately, the ones that did manage to hit burned and nearly blinded them, making them cry out in pain. After the attack was over, the vortex beneath them disappeared and the ice had melted because of the beams.

Shino and Shikamaru staggered back to their feet, having fallen over after the ice melted away. They looked up to see the monster just standing there with its now-separated blades slightly raised; like it was waiting for them.

* * *

><p>"Fascinating," Xion heard Vexen mutter. "Most fascinating. The addition of some of my own power has increased its own, adding a more deadly factor to the attacks."<p>

"You bastard!" Xion shouted, wincing when she heard her friends cry out in pain to another of the monster's attacks.

Vexen had had enough. Turning his attention back to the immobilized keyblade wielder, he dismissed his shield with a flick of his wrist. At the same moment, Xion felt the ice around her legs melt away to just her feet and she scrambled up to stand again. She was halfway back up when Vexen was suddenly in front of her.

**SLAP!**

Xion let out a gasp as her head was forcibly jerked to the side. She fell back to the floor, feet still frozen, but that was nothing to the stinging pain that was blossoming on her cheek. One hand lifted to touch that same cheek, already reddening from the hit, and her other hand curled tightly, digging into the ice.

"You will respect your elders!" Vexen shouted down at her, scowling fiercely. "I am your creator! You are my experiment; a mere specimen!"

* * *

><p>"Dammit all!" Naruto shouted at the screen.<p>

He was literally shaking in fury, barely able to contain himself from attacking just the image of the Chilly Academic. Behind and beside him, everyone else in the cavern was in a slightly similar state of anger. Fists were clenched so hard that their nails almost drew blood. Eyes narrowed and became filled with either a sharp coldness or an intense blaze.

"How dare he-!" Ino screeched.

"What an un-youthful fiend!" Lee declared.

"That bastard!" Kiba shouted and Akamaru snarled beside him, both of their hackles were raised.

"Xion doesn't belong to you anymore you Orochimaru look alike!" Sakura ranted angrily.

Kakashi's gaze was narrowed and cold. At Sakura's comment, he took a closer look and internally shivered; a momentary relief from the fury. "Kami. . .he does look a bit like Orochimaru." he thought.

* * *

><p>The world blurred; pools of blue rippling as they watered and droplets managed to leak out into their corners. Xion had to bite her lip to keep the tears from falling. Each word, each insult, felt like a blow to her chest and poisoned daggers to her ears as she continued listening to Vexen, her creator. Her heart, so new and foreign to her after so long believing that she did not have one at all, clenched painfully and the heartbeats were pitiful at best.<p>

"Your skills are impressive," Vexen continued. "But without me, you would not have ever been created in the first place! You should be grateful to me and my genius!"

He then waved a hand to the outside of the ice barrier, to where Shikamaru was hit by one of the monster's blades. "As proof of my intellect, look at my latest creation!" he stated. "This is a grand achievement; success amongst many failures. I shall label it as No. -1, the greater Replica."

"And to continue what I was doing before those two barbaric ruffians interrupted," Vexen said and raised a hand towards her.

The ice around Xion grew to around her shoulders, effectively incasing her. Her neck and head were left exposed, vulnerable. Vexen re-summoned his shield and ice began to form on the sharp point, increasing its range and lethality.

"After I have disposed of you, I shall reset the data circle and update the profiles of those two fools. Not only that, I shall add their data sets to No. -1 before releasing it to the rest of your pathetic friends waiting in the cavern," Vexen continued. He raised Frozen Pride and as he swung down, aiming for her throat, he shouted, "Say goodbye to your pathetic friends and your non-existence, No. i!"

The scream that followed echoed in the cold air.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru dove away from another of the monster's thrusts. He then rolled away from the follow up slash from the other blade, pulling out a kunai in the process and quickly getting back to his feet. Attaching an explosive tag to it, he saw that the monster had its attention focused on Shino. He took careful aim and then threw the kunai, tag sizzling, at its chest; specifically, the Nobody symbol on it.<p>

When the kunai embedded itself into the silver symbol, the monster stopped mid-swing and stumbled slightly. A few heartbeats later, the kunai detonated and it let out a loud metallic screech that grated against the shinobi's ears.

Seizing the opportunity, Shino brought his arms up and called forth most of his remaining insects. "Hidden Jutsu," he panted, fatigue draining him. "Beetle Sphere."

At his command, his bugs swarmed up to the stunned foe; a dark, creeping fog. They covered its Nobody symbol and most of its chest area. They nipped and bit into the insignia and the monster let loose another rusty screech. The ribbons flowing from its shoulders tried to swipe them away, but the insects only flowed back to the symbol like water. Suddenly, the cloud of bugs thinned out, leaving the symbol exposed. They began to swarm the monster's joints; shoulders, elbows, knees, etc. Soon it was left mostly immobilized, trying to get free.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru had position himself in front and to the left of the monster. The half-sun's rays reflected off the ice dome, making their opponent cast a long, slightly angled shadowed. "Shadow Possession Jutsu," the Nara genius muttered.

His own shadow extended and joined with the monster's, freezing it in place. Sweat dripped down his neck as he struggled to keep it still. "Ninja Art," he grit out through clenched teeth. "Shadow Strangle Jutsu."

He felt more of his energy drain away as the shadow underneath the monster began to climb up its body. Shaped like a two-dimensional arm and hand, it snaked its way up until it covered the Nobody symbol on the monster's chest. It then seemed to clench around the silver insignia and the monster let out another metallic screech as its insignia began to crack.

The seconds ticked by and Shikamaru struggled to maintain his shadow's hold. The silver symbol now sported numerous, looking fragile and about to break any second. But this thing might as well have been made out of diamond with how hard it was to break it.

Suddenly, the ribbons on its shoulders and the tips of its blades began to glow. In a bright, white flash, Shikamaru's hold was broken and he was flung away by a blade to the side. His back slammed into a tree and he coughed up some blood at the impact. Shino, having ducked to avoid the other blade, was immediately at his side. Kunai in hand, he stood protectively in front of the lazy genius, who was struggling to get back to his feet.

But Shino needn't worry, for the monster looked to be almost down for the count. The Nobody symbol on its chest looked so brittle, a small breeze could just blow it all away into dust. Most of his bugs were gone, destroyed by that flash, but there were small clumps still clinging to the chest area. He raised his arms, calling out the last of his insects.

"Hidden Jutsu," Shino muttered. "Beetle Tornado."

At his command, what was left of his insects gathered around the fragile symbol. They flew around it like a whirlwind, nipping and attacking it. The monster reacted to this by raising its blades to attack the two shinobi, but black threads rose from its shadow.

"Ninja Art," Shikamaru said beside him. "Shadow Stitching Jutsu."

The dark threads weaved their way around the monster's limbs, locking them in place. Now that it was fully immobilized, Shino turned his attention back to the Nobody symbol. The small tornado of insects gained torque and spun faster. When it stopped and the bugs dispersed, the silver insignia was gone.

Shikamaru released his hold and the shadow strands sunk back into the monster's shadow. The bugs retreated back into Shino's body and began to work to replenish their numbers. With a metallic groan, the monster toppled backwards. It shattered the ice dome, mist and ice shards flying everywhere. The two shinobi hopped back to avoid the debris, using a kunai to deflect some of them. Through the pale mist, they saw the monster dissolve into darkness, almost like the Heartless, until it disappeared.

Shikamaru and Shino began to relax, believing the battle to be over. Then Shikamaru tensed, his eyes widening as though he just realized something. "Crap, Xion!" Shikamaru shouted and took off running to the remains of the ice dome. Cursing under his breath, Shino followed after him to rescue the friend that they forgot was in the ice dome.

They were halfway there when suddenly icicles flew through the mist. They dodged it, but Shikamaru cringed and placed a hand to his side, feeling it twinge in pain. He didn't stop though; they needed to check on their friend. He hoped she was alright; he vaguely remembered hearing a scream when the monster broke the dome.

"That. Is. IT!" a loud and familiar voice shouted.

The two ninjas froze, though not of their own will. Their feet were frozen to the floor and a cold wind began to blow. Soon, the entire battlefield was covered in more ice and snow, turning the forest behind them white and the painted sky disappeared behind grey clouds. The temperature dropped further and further and the ice on their feet started to creep up their bodies until just their necks and heads were left unfrozen. The mist was gone, but the ice storm whipped the snow up and around into a flurry.

Vexen walked out of the ruined remains of the ice dome, shield in hand and an angry scowl marring his face. "I've had enough of you children," he hissed, green eyes glinting in frozen fury. As he walked closer to them, they could barely see that Xion was in a similar state as them and she appeared to be struggling with all her might to break free of her frozen prison. They turned back to glare at the Chilly Academic as he stopped in front of them.

"You're all simply too much trouble!" Vexen continued and raised his shield. Ice formed at the end of the sharp point, extending its length and making it deadlier. The two shinobi glared defiantly at him and in a rage, the scientist swiped his frozen shield down to end their lives.

"NO!"

A blinding flash and the sound of glass breaking invaded their senses. A giant gust, a comfortable warmth instead of a biting cold, blew across the field. The ice turned to snow in the air and everything else melted; grass and trees were unlocked from their icy prisons and the grey clouds vanished.

Shikamaru and Shino were still frozen in place, but Vexen's strike was blocked by a familiar silver and black keyblade. There was no one wielding it. There was another flash and Vexen was sent flying away. The two ninjas gawked at the sight before them.

Xion was in front of them protectively. Behind her, crossed in an 'X' formation, were her keyblades; floating and twirling in the air. Her outfit had changed, as well; the colors inversed from black to white and from white to black. The straps, ends of her shorts, and the sleeves of her coat were an aquatic blue with black markings that look like spiked wisps or flames. Her fingerless gloves, once checker-patterned, were now white with the same black, wispy patterns and an 'X' over the back of her hands. But her change in appearance wasn't the reason that their jaws have dropped to the floor.

Xion was **floating**.

* * *

><p>Utter silence filled the cavern. Everyone stared at the monitor in complete shock and awe. Jaws were dropped and eyes were widened at the image.<p>

"Holy Kami . . ." Sakura whispered, breaking the silence.

"That is so cool!" Naruto shouted in excitement.

"Alright, Xion!" Kiba exclaimed and Akamaru barked happily beside him.

Everyone else was also excited at this change of events. They were worried before when it looked like all hope was lost, but now they could see that the tables have turned.

"Beat his ass, Xion!" Ino shouted encouragingly, a fist pumped in the air.

"Yeah," Tenten added with fire in her eyes. "Make him pay for what he said and did to ya!"

"YOSH!" Lee shouted, a fist clenched in front of him. Under his fuzzy eyebrows, stars shined in his eyes and tears leaked down his cheeks in awe. "USE YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH TO DEFEAT THIS UNYOUTHFUL FIEND, XION!"

Kakashi sweat-dropped at that sight but, turning back to the monitor, couldn't keep the smile from his lips, even from behind the mask. Choji sped up the pace of his chip-eating beside him and Sai watched the screen with an interested gleam in his eyes.

Hinata looked at her friend in awe before smiling in glee. "Go get him, Xion," she said in encouragement. She wondered, briefly, if she could ever do something like that, but dismissed that to the back of her mind for now. She'll ask later when they came back.

* * *

><p>Xion floated above the restored ground in front of her ice-trapped friends, keyblades crossed and twirling behind her. An invisible and unfelt breeze made her dark hair and recolored clothes flutter. Her hands emitted a soft, silver glow and her floating keyblades were outlined in the same color.<p>

"Forget it, Vexen," Xion said, blue eyes shining in determination. "I'm not letting you hurt my friends. You may have been the one that created me. But you're not my father; never was and never will be. And I'm the one that's had enough of your experimenting and how I was supposed to be Sora! I'm my own person!"

With that declaration, she swiped a hand in the air while the other went behind her, palm facing her still-frozen friends. Her floating keyblades followed the movements, one flying towards Vexen and the other pointing at a spot between the two ninjas. The Chilly Academic encased himself in an ice dome, protecting himself from the keyblade. The tip of the other one radiated a warm light and in a flash, Shino and Shikamaru were free.

"That was just troublesome," Shikamaru sighed. He cringed and quickly brought up a hand to his side as it began to twinge in pain.

"Are you two alright?" Xion asked levitating closer to them, but keeping her eyes on the dome Vexen had erected around himself. Her keyblades had returned to their crossed positions behind her back.

"We're fine for the most part," Shino answered, flexing his fingers. They had grown numb from being frozen.

Xion took a glance behind her at that and saw Shikamaru holding his side with Shino frowning in concern at him. She waved a hand and a keyblade rose to point straight up into the air. "Curaga," she muttered and the tip flashed green in healing magic.

Shino suddenly grabbed both of their wrists and pulled them away. Where they were once standing, or floating in Xion's case, a large icicle had appeared and would have impaled them if not for Shino's quick save. They gave him a quick 'thanks' before focusing their attention on Vexen's protective ice dome.

"Reflect!" Xion shouted and the magical barrier appeared just in time to block the ice shards that were flying towards them. Mist briefly obscured their vision as ice collided with the barrier, but it was quickly blown away by the rebounding magic.

The ice dome the fourth member was in suddenly exploded and Xion had to erect another 'Reflect' barrier to protect her and her friends. Vexen stood there looking as angry as ever, a deep scowl on his face and cold eyes glittering in rage and frustration. He was holding his shield once more and it was covered in so much ice, it looked like a crystalline long sword. He was also levitating, feet inches from the grass.

"You have beleaguered me for the last time, No. i!" the mad scientist shouted.

He swiped the air in front of him with his elongated shield and icicles flew towards the three. Xion countered by swinging and crossing her arms in front of her. Her keyblades obeyed her command and flew to the front. Flicking her wrists, Xion commanded her keyblades to swipe and parry the icicles away from her and her friends.

Mist obscured vision for a while and the two ninjas could barely see their female friend. There was a sudden 'clang' of metal against metal and the mist dissolved in the sunlight. They saw that Xion had her keyblades crossed in front of her, locking the tip of Frozen Pride in place. Vexen sneered behind his shield before large chunks of ice surrounded the two. They floated in the air and revolved around them. Xion spread her arms and her keyblades mimicked the action, unlocking and pushing Vexen away. She then quickly flew upwards to avoid the ice chunks as they smashed into the spot where she once was. But then a large icicle burst from the pile of ice and the ex-Organization member yelped in pain as she was hit, luckily dodging the deadly tip. She twisted and regained stability then shot off towards where Vexen had landed.

Behind and below her, Shikamaru and Shino passively watched as Xion clashed with the Chilly Academic. They had agreed with each other to let Xion finish her fight with Vexen, respecting her unspoken request to fight her former creator. But, like before, they would not hesitate to jump in to help if the situation goes out of hand.

"You are just an experiment!" Vexen yelled in frustration. Xion was literally doing circles around him, commanding a keyblade to block a shield blow and the other to fly in to strike his exposed back as she dodged icicles.

"No," she retorted. Her keyblades began to glow a bright, blue-tinted light. "I'm Xion; a Keyblade Master!"

She shot towards Vexen and began to wail on him, keyblades striking him over and over. The Chilly Academic cried out in pain and was thrown sideways, forwards, backwards, up, and down at each hit. At the end of the series of attacks, she leaped back and grasped her keyblades from their levitating positions. She clasped them together and straight into the air, similar to the monster No. -1 from before.

"Event Horizon!" Xion shouted.

She became engulfed in the same light as her keyblades, the light compressing into a beam that shot into the sky. Quicker than Vexen's monster, four bright vectors fell from the heavens around Vexen, who screamed at their intensity. They became solid as they suddenly moved inward, encompassing the fourth member until they converged into a single bright pillar of light.

Vexen's screams echoed across the battlefield. The light faded away and everyone present, both on the field and within the cavern, blinked the spots away. Once their eyes had readjusted, they saw that Vexen was kneeling in front of them, shoulders hunched in fatigue. He still grasped his shield in his hand, but now it was only just a small piece with the handle. The rest of the shield was scattered around him, covered in burnt marks and soot.

Xion floated back down until she was inches from the ground, keyblades still held in her hands. Shikamaru and Shino walked up to stand behind her, deeming the battle over.

Suddenly, laughter filled the still air. So filled with madness, the sound made the hairs on the back of their necks tingle and stand up. Vexen continued to laugh as he looked back up to his enemies. Green eyes glittered in utter knowing and there lurked secrets behind the ice.

"Crow while you still can!" He shouted, his laughter dying down. Glowing, green digital numbers began to escape from his form. He was at the end of his rope, but apparently his mind had already gone off the deep end.

"This is but another point in the data," the very mad scientist continued. "You have overcome this stepping stone, but it has been recorded and analyzed! There is always room for improvement; do not think that you are the only ones to have learned. This computer is always watching and updating the files; your future opponents now know your every move!"

In a final burst of cackling mad laughter, Vexen, the Chilly Academic, dispersed into streams of data.

* * *

><p>Everything was silent in the garden for a moment when the more active members of the group started cheering wildly.<p>

"ALRIGHT! XION DID IT! SHE BEAT THE BASTARD!" Naruto yelled out in happiness as he punched the air.

"HELL YEAH! PAYBACK IS A BITCH!" Kiba cheered as Akamaru howled happily.

"SHE DID IT! AWESOME WORK ON BEATING THE OROCHIMARU LOOK ALIKE!" Sakura cheered along with Ino and Tenten

"INDEED XION! YOU HAVE INDEED IMPROVED YOURSELF AS A WARRIOR AND A COMRADE! I AM INDEED PROUD TO HAVE A YOUTHFUL FRIEND LIKE YOU!" Lee wailed out as anime tears running down his eyes.

Kakashi nodded as he looked on as Xion smiled at the sky. "Good job Xion. . .you did good." He said as Sai nodded in agreement, showing either a real or fake smile, which was hard to tell.

Hinata gave a warm smile as she knew that the next memory would be shown soon. "Xion. . .great job. You beat your final past memory that gave you pain in your heart. Your finally free of it." She thought as the light arrive, engulfing her, and the group, both in and out of the arena.

* * *

><p>The light dimmed down as everyone reappeared with a frozen Ventus and Aqua protecting him. Soon the dialogue between them and Xigbar's somebody started as everyone looked at Xion.<p>

"Everyone. . .I. . ." Xion started before she was greeted with a hug from Hinata.

"It's alright. . .we understand. . ." Hinata replied, embracing the hug.

"It's no big deal," Naruto said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You had to face this and you did Xion. We're all happy for you. . .except Sai since. . .well you know. . ." He said as everyone except Sai started to chuckle.

Xion soon broke away from the hug as she looked at everyone. "Thank you. . .everyone. . ." She didn't realize it, but tears started running down her eyes, not of sadness, but joy as they all watched as this time they showed the fight between Aqua and Xigbar's somebody.

"Uh. . .how the hell is he standing upside down like that!?" Naruto asked.

"Beats me," Sakura said, shrugging her shoulders as she turned to Xion. "You know?"

Xion sweat-dropped as she looked as Xigbar's somebody started firing energy arrows. "Well. . .his nobody Xigbar, he had the ability to control Space, and I mean like the Time Space theory. Maybe that has something to do with it. That or it's his way of using the powers of darkness." She explained as she got nods from everyone, knowing that most of the members of the Organization were crazy. . .except Roxas, Axel and Xion herself.

They all watched as Aqua continued fighting the somebody of Xigbar, avoid his moves as he avoided hers.

"They are both indeed agile." Lee muttered, wanting to be able to walk on air. "Although I wouldn't want to use the powers of darkness."

Soon, a dark aura appeared around Xigbar's somebody as he started moving faster, warping more and firing more then usual.

Kakashi looked on with the rest of the group as they saw the dark aura. "Hmm. . .He's gotten stronger."

Xion nodded. "He has. . .but I'm sure Aqua can beat him." They then watched as Aqua delivered the final blow, a Triple Firaga. "And now I feel like an idiot for never firing three Firagas at once." She said, dropping her head in shame a little causing everyone to chuckle a little until Hinata patted her on the back as they all then watched Xigbar's somebody run off as Aqua went to check on Ventus.

Naruto looked away, knowing what was coming. "Damn it. . ."

Hinata looked at him and pecked him on the lips. "It's alright Naruto. . .we all feel the same about what happened. . ." Everyone except Sai nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. . ." Naruto said with a sigh as they watched on, only difference was that when Aqua looked up, everything went black.

"So we are seeing from Aqua's point of view." Sakura muttered, Ino and Tenten nodding in agreement.

"I'm asking you, as a friend. . .Just. . .put an end to me." The group heard Ventus say.

"Ven. . ." Xion muttered in depression.

Everyone then returned to somewhat normal as Aqua woke up with a gasp.

"Gosh, I'm glad your okay." Everyone turned to see Mickey as he was watching Aqua.

Aqua slowly got up as she shook her head to get rid of the pain before gasping. "Ven!" She then got to her feet as she looked around before seeing him back where he originally was, but. . .

"Wait a minute. . ." Naruto said as he squinted his eyes, noticing something in his hands.

"Oh thank goodness. Ven!" Aqua said as she ran up to him, Mickey following behind her. "Your safe!" She then started to lean down a little to try and see his face. "Ven?"

As the group got closer they saw a complete version of a familiar weapon.

"Uh oh. . ." Tenten said as she saw the weapon in his hand.

"How?. . .I mean I thought." Kiba asked in surprise.

"I think I get it." Everyone turned to see Sai with his usual fake smile.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"During the vision we saw with the boy Ventus, we saw what happened to him in his mind," Everyone nodded at this. "That mean. . ."

"We never saw what happened outside, of course!" Ino said. "So Ven is battling in his mind right now!"

"So. . ." Sakura started before turning back to Aqua. "Now we're seeing what's happening outside."

"Correct ugly." Sai said as he wasn't shown mercy from Sakura as she beat him up.

'Ventus' then started to look up as everyone saw Vanitas's yellow eye and smirked.

"Shit! Aqua!" Naruto yelled out as they saw 'Ventus' raised the χ-blade to stab Aqua.

But it was futile as Mickey blocked the attack, pushing the two away from him. "That's not Ven!"

"Yeah of course not." Naruto muttered as they watched Ventus's armor turn into the outfit that Vanitas wore.

"Correct." 'Ventus' started in a warped voice sounding like his and Vanitas's voice were overlapping each other. "I am not Ventus. His heart has become a part of mine now."

The group noticed Aqua and Mickey gasping as they all started glaring at him. "Not for long you bastard. . .not for long. . ." Naruto muttered.

Ventus-Vanitas started to raise the χ-blade as he started explaining. "This χ-blade will open a door-" The group gave a confused look before he continued. "One that leads to all worlds! Then Keyblade-bearing warriors will flock here from each and every one of them, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts!"

"But why?" Hinata thought along with mostly everyone else.

"And just like the legend says, the Keyblade War will begin!" Ventus-Vanitas said with a wicked smile on his face.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto and Aqua yelled out at him.

"I'm sick of your nonsense! Give Ven his heart back!" Aqua demanded as she and Mickey started to fight Ventus-Vanitas.

Soon then battle raged as Ventus-Vanitas rushed around the battle field as Aqua and Mickey fought using their keyblades and magic as Ventus-Vanitas also used the dark version of some of the spells Aqua used. He also started going into the ground by using dark portals, only when he came out, fire came out from the holes causing damage to the two. The group was speechless during the entire fight from the amazement of it all as they held their breath. The three continued clashing and as it seemed like Aqua and Mickey were gonna defeat Ventus-Vanitas. . .

Aqua and Mickey started to charge Ventus-Vanitas as he smirked and got ready to swing the χ-blade.

"This doesn't look good." Kakashi said, breaking the silence.

Ventus-Vanitas then swung it as it sent out some wind, sending the two back, Aqua into a boulder and Mickey further back. He then walked forward as he saw Aqua breathing heavily after falling to the ground. "What's wrong? Giving up already?" He tauntingly asked.

"That's Vanitas's personality alright. A smug bastard." Naruto said as everyone except Sai nodded in agreement.

Aqua breathed heavily some more as she took out her charm and looked at it. "Terra, Ven, lend me strength." Suddenly, the charm started to glow as a powerful blue light covered her keyblade.

"Get him Aqua." Xion muttered as they all watched her rush into Ventus-Vanitas.

"Your just wasting your energy." Ventus-Vanitas said as the two blades clashed, sending out a shockwave.

"Come on. . .come on. . ." Sakura muttered along with Ino and Kiba. Choji sped up the eating of his chips as Shikamaru looked on with a smirk. Kakashi and Sai looked on with interest on how Aqua gained the power to clash her blade with a weapon like the χ-blade. Hinata was gripping Naruto's hand as she had her other hand on Xion. "Win!" Everyone muttered.

Aqua forced enough energy into her blade and with a mighty yell, she broke the χ-blade.

"What?" Ventus-Vanitas said in shock.

Aqua then swung harder as it knocked the χ-blade out of Ventus-Vanitas's hands as it exploded, releasing energy in all directions.

"This must've been when. . ." Hinata said, shielding her eyes.

"When Ventus destroyed the χ-blade in his mind!" Xion said, shielding her eyes as well along with everyone else.

"Shit! It must've became unstable during the fight!" Kakashi said.

Naruto then noticed that Mickey was waking up. "Now what!?"

Mickey saw what was happening as he got to his feet. "Oh no! It. . .it's gone all haywire!" He then start run towards the blade.

"Ven!" Aqua called out as Ventus-Vanitas returned to normal and went back to his armor.

Soon the χ-blade disintegrated as a blinding light forced everyone to shield their eyes. The last thing everyone heard before blacking out was two screams from Aqua and Mickey.

Hinata and Xion groaned as the struggled to open their eyes. . .to find themselves back at the garden. "Seems we were forced back. . ." Hinata said as they got to their feet.

"Yeah. . ." Xion said as she brushed herself off. The two then saw the rest of the group get up as Naruto and Lee started to ask her about the white form she went into as she started explaining Final Form to them all, a smile not leaving her face.

* * *

><p><strong><span>AN:**** I AM VERY SORRY! MAINLY FOR DELAYING HINATA CHRONICLES! I just been in a real slump for it and busy with college work, but now I'm back and this chapter it finished. You know, this is also my first Author's Note for this story, so after 51 chapters, it finally got one. Well, see you next time when Naruto fights Xaldin, later!**

**-JG**


	52. Chapter 52

**Hinata Chronicles Chapter 52: A Jinchūriki's Fight, Struggle Against The Whirlwind Lancer**

After a quick display of Final Form's power in a spar with Kakashi and apologizing again to the group, Xion decided it was time for Naruto's fight with Xaldin, the third member of her ex-Organization. "Yeah. . .it's time." She then headed for the portal with the lances on it.

Naruto and Hinata were amazed with the power of Final Form, mainly after her explanation of it and the spar she had with Kakashi, ending in a tie. "I'm proud of Xion, she finally broke free." Hinata said as she held her boyfriend's arm.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, she seems much happier." He then noticed Xion going to the portal to the next guy. "Finally, it's gonna be my turn!"

Hinata smiled as she looked at him in the eyes and pecked him on the lips. "I know, you been anxious to fight."

Naruto chuckled as he pecked her back, "Do you blame me!? Xion wanted me to wait until the final three members! I haven't fought since the canyon of Heartless and Maleficent!" The two started to laugh a little as they went to go over to Xion.

* * *

><p>Kakashi was still a little sore from the spar he had with Xion to demonstrate Final Form to the group. "Why was I used as the demonstration dummy again?" He asked with a sweat-drop.<p>

Sakura chuckled as she used a Cure spell on him. "Because you're the oldest member here?" She jokingly said, causing the rest of the group to chuckle.

Kakashi's eye twitched before taking out his book. "Ha ha ha, very funny." He sarcastically said as he noticed Xion moving towards the next portal. "Well, it seems like it's Naruto's turn."

"Alright, so whose going to be with him?" Sakura asked.

"No one. . .he's going in by himself."

A moment of silence went by before. . .

"WHAT!?" Sakura screamed out in shock, causing the others to look at her for a moment.

* * *

><p>Xion chuckled Sakura's reaction as Naruto came over along with Hinata. "So Naruto, are you ready?"<p>

"Hell yeah I am!" Naruto said with a wide grin.

Hinata then stepped forward. "Xion, how is Naruto gonna fight this guy, I looked at the computer and it says that three people have to go in."

Xion smiled as she made a hand sign that was known to Naruto, causing him to grin. "It's a theory, but maybe shadow clones can take the two extra spots until he gets in and the battle starts."

Naruto nodded as he made the hand sign and brought out two clones. "That makes sense."

Hinata put her hand on her chin. "But what if the system doesn't recognize it, I mean other members of the Organization have made clones before." She shuttered at remembering Demyx's water clones.

Xion then gave off a thoughtful look. "Hmm, Hinata's right, I didn't think of that. . ."

Naruto gave off a rare thinking look before his clones snapped their fingers. "A transformation jutsu should do the trick." The first clone said as it then transformed into Xion. "See?"

Xion smiled as she looked at the transformed clone. "This could work."

"Good." The other clone said as he turned into Choji. "Just hope this works."

"It should." Hinata reassuringly said.

Xion nodded as she decided to get everyone around to announce the plan using a whistle.

* * *

><p>"B-But why is Naruto-" Sakura started asking in a panic.<p>

Kakashi put his book away as he and Sakura started to head to where the portal was. "Xion told me that the next member of the Organization was a wind user, Naruto has a wind style chakra nature. Before we got here to Radiant Garden, me and Xion agreed on it, Naruto would fight the 3rd member of the Organization." He explained as Sakura nodded dumbfoundedly.

"So, what's this guy's name?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi sighed as Xion nodded at him. "His name is. . ."

* * *

><p>"Alright everyone, gather around, it's time for the next fight." Xion announced as everyone was on the level below her.<p>

Choji then noticed the copies of himself and Xion. "Uh. . .why is there another me with another Xion next to Naruto?"

Xion chuckled as everyone except Shino, Shikamaru and Sai gave off confused looks while she nodded to Kakashi. "Well you see, me and Kakashi had an agreement before we came here to the Radiant Garden that involved Naruto here."

"What do you mean Xion?" Ino asked. "And what does it have to do with you and Choji?"

Xion then started to explain about her deal with Kakashi to let Naruto go in alone and how the system might think if three people will be in if two clones were in disguise. "So in general, Naruto will be fighting the next member of the Organization, Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer."

"So what should I know about this guy? Besides the face that he uses a lance and has the power of wind on his said." Naruto asked.

Xion looked over at him. "He's a floater, meaning that he's able to well, float," Everyone sweat-dropped at that. "He has a constant wind barrier, so you'll have to think up of a strategy when you fight him, possibly use long range attacks, and finally, if he disappears, keep moving and dodge any and all of his attacks."

Naruto nodded. "Alright," He then looked at the portal. "It's time to face this guy head on!" He then jumped in along with the disguised clones as the portal then turned yellow.

"Good luck Naruto," Xion muttered out as she looked at everyone before heading to the computer. "Beat him down." She then turned on the monitor as everyone gathered around to watch.

* * *

><p>Naruto and his two disguised clone arrived on a long and somewhat wide bridge where it looked like it was night time. "Hmm. . .weird. . ." The clones nodding in agreement as he took his blades out. "Alright then, when he appears, I disperse the clones, let the guy say what crap he spews out and the fight begins!" He then sent his chakra out to the blades as the energy came out of them.<p>

Soon the data started to appear in front of Naruto as he then disperse the clone.

* * *

><p>Back outside, everyone watched on as a man that was broad-shouldered, his black hair in dreadlocks and also has bushy eyebrows and very thick sideburns.<p>

Lee looked on before nodding. "Gai-sensei's eyebrows are much better then this man's." This statement caused everyone to face-fault before looking back on.

* * *

><p>Back in the arena, Naruto stared down his opponent with a menacing glare as he gripped his blades, chakra flowing out of them. "So your Xaldin. . .Xion's told a lot about you. . .and a lot about the rest of your Organization."<p>

Xaldin glared at the teenager in front of him, "And you are the last member of your group that hasn't fought. Pitiful." He said in a disappointed tone. "Vexen was able to tell us about your 'unique' power."

Naruto was taken aback for a moment before getting back into his fighting stance. "So you know. Who cares, I don't know why you guys are interested in it, but you better get in line, I already got enough people interested in it."

"Hmph. . .another stupid boy." Xaldin grunted as miniature wind funnels with lightning burst out of thin air, surrounding him as his weapons were summoned. He then grabbed three of the lances as the rest of them hovered in the air along side him. "Where's the fun in this?"

Naruto cracked his neck as he looked at him. "Bring it in!"

"Wind guard me!" Xaldin ordered as he saw Naruto rush in, who had not noticed his lances surrounded him, rushing around faster and faster until they formed a protective Aeroga barrier.

* * *

><p>The group outside looked on as Naruto tried to hit Xaldin, but was pushed back by his wind barrier that he put up, wincing for Naruto as he got hurt from it.<p>

Sakura sighed as she palmed her face. "I'll heal him after he's done." Sakura deadpanned.

* * *

><p>"Crap!" Naruto grunted out as slid on his back away from Xaldin. "This is gonna be tougher then I thought." He got back to his feet and made a few shadow clones. "Go get him!" He ordered as his clones rushed at him.<p>

"Pathetic." Xaldin boringly said as he swung his lances gracefully as they went through the clones with ease. "You'll have to do more then that if you want to defeat me." He cockily said.

"Damn. . ." Naruto muttered.

"Take this!" Xaldin started swinging out his lances at Naruto, forcing him to dodge.

"Whoa!" Naruto dodged once. "Whoa!" He dodged again, but it grazed his cheek. "OH CRAP!" Naruto dodged a third time as it seemed as if the lances extended. He flinched as one of the lances tore a slight gash across his arm. Finally, Xaldin finished his combo with his lances spearing close to the ground, jutting outward like needles on a porcupine. The orange shinobi almost stumbled over from the attack. "That was too close." He then noticed something. "An opening!" Naruto rushed in as he got a few slashes in on Xaldin.

"Cocky little-!" Xaldin grunted out as he got his wind barrier up again. He looked at Naruto, who had a smirk on his face. "You haven't beaten me yet boy. Now then. . .take this!" He then disappeared from Naruto's sight.

"What the!? Where did he-" Naruto felt a presence as he quickly jumped out of the way just in time as Xaldin's giant lances rained from the sky, crashing into the ground like lightning before retracting back into the air. "That son of a-" His eyes went wide as he quickly jumped out of the way from another attack in the air.

* * *

><p>"What the heck is going on!?" Sakura yelled as she looked on with everyone else.<p>

Xion scuffed as she looked away for a moment. "It's Xaldin. He's able to go high in the skies and attack with a dive bombing like attack. Sora had a difficult time dealing with this attack too."

"How do you think Naruto will beat it?" Hinata asked.

Xion looked back at the screen. "Hard to say."

* * *

><p>"Shit!" Naruto dodged another of Xaldin's aerial as the lances now began to surround his position before fading back into thin air. Naruto quickly sensed what was coming before he'd even heard it. He quickly back-flipped out of the way as Xaldin's giant lances struck the spot where he had just occupied. "Too close. . ." Naruto thought as he now looked at him. "Now strike!" He rushed in as he got a few more hits in before Xaldin put up his wind barrier yet again.<p>

Xaldin scuffed as he looked at Naruto. "Pathetic. . .even more pathetic then my defeat against Sora. Maybe the container of a power demon isn't that strong." He taunted.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he looked at him. "I don't need to rely on a massive chakra monster to defeat a guy like you!"

Xaldin smirked at the boy. "Really?" He tauntingly asked as he looked at the castle behind him. "You know where we are? This is where I almost convinced a monster to join our Organization. He was known as Beast and I almost convinced him, the main reason being that he was not a man, but a monster." He then glared at Naruto. "Just like you.

"The hell I'm a monster! That's what you guys are!" Naruto yelled back as he winced in pain. "This is really getting rough. . .it's like we're just going in a cycle, there's no end to it so far! If only I could attack him even with the wind. . .that's it!" He thought as he looked at him with a smirk. "If I concentrate my chakra, I think I might be able to do something like Kyubi form! I don't know what I'll be able to do if I use my wind chakra instead of my normal chakra or the Kyubi's chakra, but it's worth a shot."

"What's with the smile boy?" Xaldin asked cockily. "Do you think this fight will be that easy?" He then spun his lances in a circles as they fired a shot of compressed air.

Naruto blocked the air sphere as he panted from exhaustion. "Well. . .it's like this. . .there's a reason why I'm fighting you by myself." He looked as Xaldin raised an eyebrow, neither of them noticing that a small doses of wind started surrounding Naruto. "Like you, I have wind on my side as well. I was chosen to fight against you for that reason."

"Get to the point boy!" Xaldin bellowed out as he held his lances. "What are you getting at!?"

Naruto took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, channeling his wind chakra through his body. The cyclone continued circling around his body as it got higher and higher, blocking Xaldin's view of him. "What I mean is. . ."

* * *

><p>"What the!? What the hell is Naruto doing!?" Kiba asked in shock.<p>

Everyone was completely thrown off when they saw the cyclone covering Naruto.

"Naruto. . .are you trying to. . ." Xion thought as she looked on.

* * *

><p>"What is this!?" Xaldin said as he looked at the tornado surrounding Naruto. "He somehow made the wind go under his command instead of mine! What is he up too!?"<p>

In the tornado, Naruto stood in the same spot as he concentrated before gripping tighter to his blades. "The wind. . .blowing freely. . .able to strike at any range. . .can cut and shred through anything. . .concentrate. . .concentrate. . ." He breathed as the wind continued to blow while his clothes started changing, getting darker in color as they went from orange and blue to green and grey. A dark green aura of chakra began to glow around him as it started heading for the blades, coming out as if it was thick string as it then sharpened itself by making spikes throughout it. "Yeah. . .let's do this!" He said as he then opened his eyes, revealing to be bright green now.

"That's it!" Xaldin rushed in, swinging his lances. "Enough showing off! What ever you have planned won't work!" He slashed through the tornado horizontally, slicing right through it. "This is over now!" He confidently yelled, only to go wide-eyed to see that there was no one there. "What the!?"

"Surprise!" Xaldin quickly blocked an incoming attack from what seemed like a whip from above. Naruto looked down below him, smirking as he hovered on a small cyclone under his feet and glad with the results. "Alright! It work! Hurricane Form is now ready for action!"

* * *

><p>Everyone outside was speechless at this resolution as they watch Naruto using his blades now as spiked whips as they tore into Xaldin's wind barrier.<p>

Xion smiled as she looked on. "I knew it, he somehow made a new drive form during the battle, great work Naruto!" She thought as she looked on as now Naruto gliding away from Xaldin as he did the dive bombing attack. "But he still has a way to go to beat Xaldin. Come on Naruto, you can do it!"

* * *

><p>As Naruto continued to slash through the barrier from a distance, Xaldin struggled to keep it up. "Man he's stubborn."<p>

Xaldin glared at Naruto as his spiked whip started ripping through his barrier. "I said don't get cocky brat!" He then grinned evilly. "Here!" he cried as he thrust his weapons in Naruto's direction.

Naruto instinctively tightened his leg muscles like coiled springs and pushed off from the ground, then gliding over Xaldin's head. As he landed safely out of reach, Xaldin suddenly stopped his onslaught and leapt high into the air again. "What the hell!?" He watched as the lances began to glow and expand with power. They connected themselves end to end to form what looked like a giant snake. The dragon-like creature slithered through the air and off the side of the bridge. An inexperienced person would've let out a sigh of relief, but Naruto at least knew better to an extent. The dragon's head burst out of the dark abyss, its body still pulsating with energy. "You have got to be kidding me!"

As Xaldin landed on top of his makeshift dragon, Naruto's eyes grew wider as the mouth of the mechanized beast opened up and began charging up. "Ah crap. . ." He muttered.

"Beware the face of despair!" A giant wind tunnel burst from the dragon's maw, its head sweeping the entire length of the bridge.

* * *

><p>Hinata turned to Xion, giving her a worried look. "I've been meaning to ask, why do the Organization members suddenly get stronger when they are close to losing?"<p>

"It's a suicide attack. The Nobody uses the energy for it's very non-existence to power up their abilities. But they disappear after that." Xion explained.

"A suicide attack?!" Hinata shouted.

"No way, that's just. . ." Sakura couldn't find the words to describe how screwed up it was.

"Actually, this is the most logical choice." Shino said as a matter of fact.

Everyone looked at Shino like he grew a second head.

"We've been defeating their members for quite a while now while we never lost a fight against them." Shino explained.

"That's insane!" Kiba said.

"It's not when you're up against a wall with enemies surrounding you." Shino stated.

The rest of the group looked at Shino dumbfounded before returning to the screen.

* * *

><p>"This is gonna be close!" Naruto thought as he glided to the other side. "3. . .2. . .1. . . . . .now!" Naruto quickly ran up the gate and jumped over the wind tunnel, only giving small gashes on his back. "Urk!" He winced from the pain as he got over the wind tunnel. As he landed on the other side of the bridge as the wind tunnel finished, Xaldin landed back on the field and placed his wind barrier up. "Let's go!" Naruto yelled out as he started striking Xaldin with his new whips from a distance, slashing through the barrier and hitting it target.<p>

"GAH!" Xaldin grunted out as he held his shoulder in pain. "You'll pay for that!" He then started to glow again, repeating what he did before.

"Shit!" Naruto thought as he quickly dodged Xaldin's enhanced range of attacks. "This again!?" He then lifted himself up in the air as he glided out of the attack range. "This is getting really annoying now! Do all the Organization members do similar glowing ultimate like moves that make them invincible!?" He thought as he dodged another barrage. He then watched as Xaldin created the dragon again. "Dammit. . .here I go again!" He then rushed to the end of the bridge to prepare for the cyclone.

Naruto then tried using the same strategy he used last time to hit Xaldin's shoulder, but just before he could hit him, Xaldin grabbed Naruto's whip, ignoring the spikes on it, and threw him to the ground. "Don't think the same thing will work on me boy!" he said while not caring that his hand is now bleeding.

"Damn, I really thought that could work again." Naruto muttered as he got up from the ground. Xaldin appeared in front of him and started to perform a series of lance combos, and Naruto was dodging and blocking the oncoming attacks with his whip. He then managed to jump away, but he started to feel the pain from all of the attacks he couldn't successfully block in the barrage. "Crap! That last one was insane." Naruto said.

"I guess since you used something unique, why don't I return the favor." Xaldin said as he took a new stance.

* * *

><p>Back outside,<p>

"Wait, what is he doing!?" Xion shouted which caused everyone to look at her.

"Xion what's wrong?" Hinata said.

"Sorry, its just that I've never seen him use that stance even with my time in the organization as well as against Sora." Xion said with a baffled tone which made everyone look back at the screen with half interest and concern.

"So you're saying that there is an attack that this guy has, that even you don't know?" Sakura said.

"Well they are real after all, instead of just data clones of themselves." Shino stated.

"That is true, now that you mention it Shino." Kiba replied.

* * *

><p>"Be honored that you are the very first to experience this technique." Xaldin said as he now had one lance in his hand, while the other five lances are now spiraling slowly in front of him like a drill that's just starting up. Naruto then got into his stance and prepare for the unknown attack. Then in an instant, Xaldin charged right into the lances causing them to connect, and shot right towards Naruto like a bullet, with the lances now spiraling around the lance in his hand with immense speed.<p>

"This is gonna be another close one." Naruto said in his mind, as he prepared himself to dodge the attack. However, just as he jumped over, he was caught in the raging afterburning wind torrent that followed from Xaldin's attack and slammed into the wall, receiving heavy damage from both the raging torrent and the heavy slam.

"Gaaaaahhhh!" Naruto screamed as he felt the twofold strike that was inflicted upon him. "What the hell was that!? It was just like my Rasengan only wilder!" Naruto thought in his mind. He got out of his thoughts and started to see Xaldin preparing to use the same attack again.

"Not this time!" Naruto said as he extended the length of the whip and attack Xaldin only for the whip to be grabbed again by said person.

"I already told you that the same thing work on me boy!" Xaldin said as he started to pull Naruto right towards him and charged into the lances once more.

"That's what I was hoping for." Naruto said as he made a single clone and made the Odama Rasengan just as he was pulled.

"So be it." Xaldin said with the two of them collided with both attacks now in a massive deadlock.

Naruto felt like he was facing against a giant raging Tornado as he was pushing with all of his strength and might against Xaldin's attack.

"Damn it, this is way harder that I thought it would be." Naruto said in his mind.

"I must say, you really must have a death wish for facing my attack head on like this!" Xaldin said while maintaining his attack.

"Its not over yet, so don't think you've won!" Naruto retorted.

"I believe I already have boy." Xaldin replied.

As much as Naruto hated hearing him say that, Xaldin was right as Naruto's attack was starting to lose power.

"I can't let it end like this." Naruto said as his attack was growing weaker by the second.

* * *

><p>Everyone was starting to worry for their blonde companion.<p>

"His attack is losing power, in a few minutes he will be overpowered." Shino said in a blunt tone.

"Don't say it like that, this is Naruto were talking about, he won't lose to something like this." Kiba replied.

"Even so, we got to face facts here that the strength in attacks is too different." Shikamaru stated.

"Naruto won't lose, even if all odds are against him, he always pulls though." Hinata said in a determined tone.

"Yeah Hinata is right, we have to believe in him!" Xion added.

"Naruto! Your youthful flames can't burn out just yet, so hang on till the lotus blooms again!" Lee said.

"Yeah what my teammate just said." Tenten said who was now sweat dropping at Lee's antics.

"You have everyone cheering you on Naruto, so you can't let them down right?" Kakashi thought.

* * *

><p>"It seems that you are at your limit." Xaldin stated.<p>

"Speak for yourself, I'm still not giving up!" Naruto shouted as he was still trying to maintain his Rasengan attack by pouring more chakra in it.

"Just give up, you are only delaying the inevitable!" Xaldin exclaimed as he was now redoubling his attack power.

Naruto then decided to concentrate on his attack. He closed his eyes and drowned out the noise. "Come on. . . I know there is still something I can do to win."

"Struggle all you like, it won't make any difference!" Xaldin said as he put more power into his attack.

"Please anything!" Naruto pleaded in his mind. "Come on. . . come on. . . come on!"

"You're finished!" Xaldin exclaimed.

"COME ON!"

Then as if someone answered his plea, Naruto's whip started to coil around the Rasengan, turning itself into energy, as well as the energy from the Hurricane drive form was going into the Rasengan as well. Then Naruto's attack started to glow white.

"What the-!" Xaldin said as he saw the attack change colors.

* * *

><p>"What's going on with Naruto?" Sakura wondered as everyone saw that the Rasengan was starting to glow.<p>

"I-I'm not sure Sakura." Hinata replied not once taking her eyes off the screen.

"Hey guys do you hear something, it almost sounds like something is screeching." Ino said.

"Now that you mention it Ino, I can hear it too." Choji replied.

Naruto then started to hear a loud screeching noise which caused him to open his eyes, and what he saw surprised him a little.

The Odama Rasengan was now pure white, and was protruding four energy blades now spinning like a propeller. He then decided that now was not the time to figure out what was going on, and summoned what little strength he had left and started going on the offensive on the deadlock with his resolve now renewed.

* * *

><p>For the second time now, everyone was once again shocked speechless at what was happening.<p>

"What the hell is that!?" Kiba shouted in surprise

"Well I don't know, but whatever it is, its helping Naruto." Xion stated, who was observing the deadlock closely.

"You're right Xion, he's going on the offensive." Sakura replied.

"Come on Naruto." Hinata whispered.

* * *

><p>"This is absurd." Xaldin said in his mind as he was starting to feel that the scale is tipping against him.<p>

Then he saw that his lances were starting to crack. "This can't be happening!" Xaldin now trying to maintain a losing struggle as his lances were starting to crack even more.

After a few more seconds "This is IMPOSSIBLE!" Xaldin shouted as all of his lances shattered, and Naruto's attack hit him right in the center of his body.

"Raaaaahhhhhhh!" Naruto now slamming his attack with full force. Xaldin was then blasted all the way to the other side of the castle bridge, screaming all the way and slammed into the metal gate which now had a few bent marks, and fell onto the stone ground.

Naruto was starting to breathe heavily, fell to his hands and knees. After a few seconds he looked at both of his hands and wondered what was that power he used, and if he can use it again.

"Guh! to think. . . that all of this. . . could happen to me." Naruto was broken out of his train of thought when he heard Xaldin who just managed to struggle himself up from the ground, with the little remains of his shattered lance still gripped in his hand.

"You're still willing to fight, even after all of that!" Naruto said amazed that someone who just experienced the most devastating attack, would still get up and fight.

"No." Xaldin shook his head while breathing heavily and the lance crumbled in his hand. "This battle. . . is yours." Naruto then started to see that Xaldin was slowly fading away.

"So its over then?" Naruto said now feeling somewhat relieved that the battle is done.

"For now. . . but know this, that you. . . will someday give your heart. . . into the darkness, all it requires is. . . the right trigger." Xaldin stated.

"I'll never give my heart to darkness even if it kills me!" Naruto replied.

"Are you sure? You may be able to fool the others, but I can see exactly what you are hiding." Xaldin stated as he now got his breath back.

"If your talking about my unique power then forget it, I have it under control." Naruto said.

"Who said anything about your demonic powers. I'm talking about the darkness that has been nested in your heart for quite some time now." Xaldin stated as he pointed to Naruto.

"W-What are you talking about?" Naruto who now starting to wonder what Xaldin is saying.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Xaldin said, who started smirking as he now started to fade faster.

"Hey, were not done talking yet!" Naruto shouted.

"With this, the remaining members now know what to expect from you, so any kind of trick you come up with, they will know what to do." Xaldin said.

"Answer my damn question! What do you mean there already is darkness in me?" Naruto demanded.

"With that kind of attitude, you will find out very soon boy." Xaldin replied as he faded away.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto shouted, but it was too late, Xaldin faded completely leaving nothing left of himself.

* * *

><p>"Its over! Naruto pulled through!" Kiba shouted out loud and cheered.<p>

"Yes! Naruto's flames bloomed twice as youthful as he always has been doing now!" Lee shouted.

"Ugh, give it a rest already Lee." Tenten who is still sweat dropping at her teammate's antics.

Kakashi was in his mind thinking on the new unknown attack Naruto displayed during his struggle. "Maybe it is time for Naruto's training to go to the next level." He thought, while everyone was still celebrating over Naruto's victory.

Hinata on the other hand, was looking intently at the screen where it showed Naruto.

"Is something the matter Hinata?" Xion said.

"Hm I don't know why, but I have this feeling that there is something wrong with this picture." Hinata said in a thinking tone.

"What do you mean?" said Sakura who was now joining in on the conversation.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just over thinking things." Hinata replied as she was now looking away from the screen to talk with her friends.

Unfortunately for the Hinata, she wasn't that far off as the sound was making a vague faint white noise that would not be heard by the naked ear, also the screen was showing only the decisive blow and Xaldin fading away after that, so the last bit of dialogue Naruto heard from him didn't exist for them.

"So, any thoughts on what we will be shown next?" Sai said in his emotionless tone.

"Not sure, maybe something positive." Choji said while eating a few chips.

"With way things are going, I highly doubt it will be anything but positive." Shino stated.

"Come on Shino lighten up." Kiba said.

"Yeah Kiba is right, we can only hope things will get better for them." Xion added.

Shino did not reply to any of them as they were now being teleported by the flash of white light.

* * *

><p>When the light cleared, the group found themselves at a depressing place, the ruins of Terra, Aqua and Ventus's home world. Also on the ground nearby, they saw the Keyblade that Eraqus owned. Everything was quite for the moment as the group looked at Naruto.<p>

"What?" Naruto asked, confused at why everyone was looking at him.

"Well. . ." Sakura started.

"How the heck did you do most of the stuff during your fight!? That green form you turned into and attack were both crazy and awesome!" Kiba exclaimed as he put Naruto into a headlock.

Naruto chuckled as he struggled to get out. "Well, the green form I turned into was a result of me trying something new, basically what I did was use my wind style chakra instead of the Kyubi's chakra, which I dub this form, Hurricane form. The Rasengan that used near the end. . .I got no clue about it. It was unexpecting to me too." Naruto explained as eventually got out of the headlock. "But I still wonder what Xaldin meant before. . ." He thought, giving off a serious look.

Before anyone else could comment, a portal of light spontaneously opened as a figure walked into the area. Soon, the light cleared to see that it was Aqua with what looked like an unconscious Ventus on her back.

"Ven. . ." Xion thought as she recognized what happened to him.

The group watched as Aqua was shocked to see her's and Ventus's home in a terrible state where it would never return to normal. She then went over to Eraqus's Keyblade as she then headed inside the castle remains.

As the group watched Aqua walk to the chair on the other side of the building, something strange happened as they started to hear two familiar voices.

"Aqua." Eraqus's voice started.

"Yes?" Aqua's voice replied.

"Now that you are a Master, there is one secret in particular you must know."

"A secret?" Xion muttered, curious at where this was going. The group watched as Aqua placed Ventus's body on the chair.

"Should anything happen to me, and you find the legion of darkness at our doorstep. . ."

"So they had something planned. . .even for this. . ." Kakashi thought.

"I ask that you take my Keyblade and use it to lock this land away."

"Lock it away?" Kiba asked he looked at Shino, only to get a shrug.

"What?" Aqua's voice asked in a surprised tone.

"Generations of Keyblade Masters have been charged with keeping this land safe."

"Sounds like something a sensei would say to a student." Naruto commented, only to get shushed by Sakura.

"Light and Darkness exist in balance here, and there are those who would abuse such neutral ground."

Kakashi nodded in agreement, knowing that neutral grounds are sometimes abused.

"This is why our predecessors devised a certain. . .Trick."

"A trick?" Hinata wondered.

The group watched as Aqua then went behind the chair Ventus was sitting in. With Eraqus's Keyblade in her hand, she raised it up to the back of the chair as a Keyhole appeared.

"What the!?" Naruto exclaimed as they heard the voice of Eraqus again.

"So is this what he meant?" Hinata asked as she looked at Xion, who was giving off a dumbfounded look.

"Just use the key, and this land will be transformed. From that day forward, all who visit this land will be lost to oblivion, none ever able to solve the mystery. None, Aqua, except you."

Aqua then thrusted Eraqus's Keyblade forward as a beam of light shot out of it. Soon, a blinding bright light appeared, causing everyone to shield their eyes.

"Wait. . ." Xion thought as she covered her eyes. "He said. . .'lost to oblivion'. . ." She then continued to think over those words.

When the light cleared down, the area completely changed as it became a white with a slightly blue tint. There was a door behind Aqua as she walked in front of the chair where Ventus was resting. There were chains coming out of the chair as light went through them and went up the walls into the unique heart shaped symbol.

"This room. . ." Xion thought as she remembered a similar room back in the Radiant Garden Castle. "It looks exactly like it. . ."

"What the heck. . .?" Naruto breathed out.

"Well. . .this is different. . ." Kakashi said as they all looked around.

"I know it's a lonely place," Aqua started, gathering the group's attention. "but you'll be safe. Terra and I will be back to wake you up before you know it."

"A promise. . ." Naruto muttered before chuckling.

"Hmm. . .what is it Naruto?" Hinata asked as she held his hand.

Naruto looked at his girlfriend with a smile before pecking her on the lips, causing her to blush. "It's nothing, just lost in my thoughts."

"Hmm. . .something about this room. . ." Shino muttered out with interest.

The group watched on as Aqua began to left. While she through the white rooms, Xion's eyes went wide as she recognized them. "No. . .no frickin way. . ." Her eye started to twitch a little.

Hinata turned her head to her friend, giving her a confused look. "Are you alright? Do you-"

"Yeah. . .I recognize that place. . ."

"You do!? How!?" Naruto exclaimed gathering the group's attention to her. "Maybe we could-" He looked as Xion negatively nodded her head as she then gave the motion to continue watching.

Soon, Aqua and the group were outside where everyone looked at the single road of sand before looking back to see a new castle with a 'unique' look, as it was a single building that looked smaller on the outside then it was on the inside. It had towers where it's tops resembling an interesting isosceles triangle, and a noticeable monster with horns on the center of the castle. Two smaller parts of the castle, lying on floating islands are joined to the main structure by chains.

"Creepy. . ." Ino and Sakura said in semi-unison, Tenten nodding in agreement.

"Ominous. . ." Shino said, Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru also nodding in agreement.

"Pleasant looking." Sai said with his usual fake grin, causing everyone else to look at him funny.

Xion shuddered as she pointed to the castle. "ARE. YOU. SERIOUS!? HERE OF ALL PLACES!? AND AQUA WAS THE ONE WHO CREATED THIS PLACE!?" She yelled out with a noticeable twitch.

The group looked shocked at Xion's outburst before Hinata went up to her. "Uh Xion. . .you wanna?"

"Later. . .please. . .my head hurts. . .a lot. . ." Xion muttered out.

"Alright." Hinata said, still slightly worried for her friend.

"Aqua. . ." Everyone became shocked as they then heard a familiar voice. "Put an end to me."

"Terra. . ." Xion muttered out after calming down.

"Where could he. . ." Hinata wondered.

"Terra, tell me where to find you." Aqua said she then started to walk down the path.

For the group, a blinding flash of light caused them to shield their eyes.

"We better not go blind after all these flashes!" Kiba commented, but was quickly shut up by Ino via hit to the head.

When the light cleared, the group found themselves at a familiar place to everyone.

"Hey! This is where Ven talked with Lea and Isa!" Naruto pointed out. "Except the sky's really dark now."

"Yeah. . ." Xion said as she noticed it as well. "Why is that?" She muttered to herself before being tapped on the shoulder. "Yes?" Xion asked Hinata as she noticed she was pointing to the direction everyone was looking at and paled. "Oh. . .that's why. . ."

The group all saw Terra, except with the silver-white hair and yellow eyes.

"Xehanort that bastard. . ." Naruto growled out, wanting to prepare a Rasengan and smash it into his face.

"Calm down. . .remember, this is the past. . .we can't do anything about it. . ." Kakashi nodded as placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Soon the group heard panting as they turned around to see Aqua run right through them and up to her friend. "Terra?"

Xion looked away for a moment, upset at what was happening. "None of this should have happened. . .none of it at all. . ." She thought as she looked back at the two, 'Terra' still being silent as he looked at her before reaching a hand out and grabbed her, lifting her up off the ground.

'Terra' looked at her as a small aura of darkness surrounded him. "Who. . .am I?" He asked, generally sounding like he didn't know.

"Memory loss. . ." Sakura started, gaining everyone's attention for the moment. "Could it be a result from him fighting the armor?"

Aqua struggled to get out of his grip. "Such a terrible. . .darkness. . .Fight it. Terra, please!"

"Terra. . . you say?" 'Terra' said as the aura disappeared and he dropped her to the ground. He then started struggling as he grabbed his head in pain. After a little while. . .

"Terra's heart has been extinguished. . . smothered by the darkness within him!" He said as he summoned out Xehanort's Keyblade and got ready to strike at Aqua.

"No!" Naruto called out as the group watched Aqua dodged the attack.

Aqua looked him down after the back flip as she brought her hand up. "My name is Master Aqua." She said as she summoned her Keyblade. "Now return my friend's heart of pay the price!" She demand as she got into her fighting stance.

The group watched as 'Terra-nort' into the ground and came out behind Aqua, causing her to jump away from him as they started fighting, Aqua wanting to free Terra's heart from Xehanort's control. Aqua attacked with improved magic spells while Terra-nort attacked using dark variations of Terra's own moves, neither side showing signs of backing down.

"This is getting intense. . ." Kakashi said as everyone, even Sai nodded in agreement.

"Will it ever end?" Naruto asked as tightened his hand into a fist.

"What you mean?" Sakura asked to her teammate.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked her boyfriend.

Naruto was silent for a moment as he watched the battle. "The fighting. . .will it ever end?" As he said it, both keyblade wielders clashed at each other.

As Naruto asked that question, the group members, except Sai gave off an 'I don't know' look before Kakashi sighed. "Well. . .I believe that the fighting will end when the time comes. . ."

"When's that?" Kiba deadpanned.

"Beats me." Kakashi simply answered, causing everyone to resist face-faulting.

"WHAT THE HELL KAKASHI-SENSEI!?" Naruto growled out, eyes going silted for a moment.

"Sorry sorry, let continue watching, it's starting to get interesting. . ." Kakashi said as he looked back at the fight.

Terra-nort tried to attack with some pure darkness projectiles, but were easily deflected thanks to Aqua's barrier and sent back at him, causing him to take damage. The two continued to go at it, each send multiple different varieties of attack, both physical attacks and magic until Aqua delivered a blow that 'ended' the fight.

"Not. . .Yet!" 'Terra-nort groaned in pain from the attack.

"Alright, judging by the pattern, there's going to be another phase." Xion thought as she noticed a barrier of darkness surround the two.

"What. . .is this!?" Naruto reacted as the Konoha group looked at the barrier appearing.

"Must be something Xehanort did." Sakura deducted as they all looked back at Aqua and 'Terra-nort', both of them stopped moving as they stared each other down.

"I will guide you to the depths of darkness!" 'Terra-nort' declared as a massive dark aura appeared, shrouding his body as a monster came out of him, appearing behind 'Terra-nort'.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Kiba yelled as Akamaru whimpered in fear.

Xion looked on, wide-eyed as she recognized what it was. "Ansem's Dark Guardian!? What's that doing here!? It should-" She then realized something. "So that's it. . .of course!"

Everyone else was going to ask what Xion meant, but there was no time as the battle started up again, 'Terra-nort' displaying new moves thanks to the guardian behind, it now attacking Aqua as well, forcing her to dodge as much as possible.

"OK! This is just really unfair now!" Naruto started. "It's two on one!"

Kakashi sighed as he placed a hand on his student's shoulder. "In a fight between good versus evil, the evil doesn't care and usually resorts to anything to try and win. Even underhanded tricks like this."

"But even so-" Naruto tried to respond only to find Sakura's hand on his other shoulder.

"Kakashi-sensei does make a point Naruto." Sakura stated in a downcast tone.

"I guess you're right. . . but it just feels wrong." Naruto responded.

Naruto then heard Hinata's voice behind him as she wrapped her arms around him, and put her head on his back. "Unfortunately Naruto-kun, its just how it is." Hinata said to her boyfriend.

"I know. . ." Naruto replied back as his mind went back to the fight.

The group saw Aqua was dodging for her life as Xehanort's Dark gaurdian was charging at her from underground with severe force as well as creating dark shockwaves. However, every time the guardian's attacks were about to reach Aqua, she would cartwheel her way out. Although, Xehanort's next attack included the guardian charging towards Aqua and when she tried to dodge, the guardian managed to catch her and hold her in place. Then Xehanort teleported to her and unleashed an Ars Solum combo causing the blue haired keyblade master to receive heavy damage with each strike looking more powerful and deadlier then the last.

"Damn him." Naruto growled clenching his fists together.

"Easy Naruto." Kakashi said trying to calm down the boy.

"I know sensei it's just that I can't stand to watch a fight thats too one sided like this." Naruto replied.

"Hey guys look!" Sakura shouted pointing to the fight.

What the group saw was Aqua managing to block the last strike from the combo, and when that happened the field flashes turning to a gold light color.

"Wha-What's going on?" Kiba said as he looked around.

"I-I don't know." Xion replied.

"Hey guys, look over there." Hinata said to the others as she pointed to a place that had the Dark guardian blocking something from Aqua's path.

"Is that who I think it is?" Naruto said hoping his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

The group saw a familiar face standing near an orb of light connected to six spaces on the ground, who looked worn out clutching his chest breathing heavily as if trying to hold on to his life.

"It's Terra! he still hanging on!" Naruto exclaimed.

"How is that possible!? I thought he was completely taken over by Xehanort!?" Sakura questioned out loud.

"Terra's heart follows the springtime of youth!" Lee yelled out.

"Yeah, or he's just really stubborn to fall into the darkness." Tenten replied with a sweat drop

"Plus, his mind was never fully taken." Kakashi added remembering the lingering armor.

"Yeah but look at him, he's not doing very good." Shino stated.

"You're right on that part Shino, he looks like he's wavering." Shikamaru added.

"Don't say that you guys, it really sounds like he'll die a any minute when you phrase it like that." Xion said to the two.

"We're just stating the facts that are right in front of us." Shikamaru responded.

"Well your way of showing the facts sucks. Terra is still not out of the fight just yet!" Naruto exclaimed pointing his finger at them.

Just as the conversation was about to continue, Hinata spoke up. "Guys stop arguing, Aqua is making her approach." she said.

The group looked and saw that Aqua was making her way to Terra while under constant fire from the dark guardian's attacks. Eventually the Keyblade Master got close enough that when the guardian tried to grab her, she teleported to where she needed to be on the circle.

The light gathered in both keyblades and at the same time Terra and Aqua raised their keyblades together at the orb and yelled "Light!" Suddenly the dark guardian was starting to fade away and Xehanort falls back a bit.

"Why. . ." Xehanort grunted as he clutched his right shoulder, groaning in pain and started glowing with a bright aura. He then shifts his form in an awkward position and feels a force over him.

"Yes! keep going at it Terra!" Naruto cheered.

"Let the spring time of youth burn away the dark thorns!" Lee added

"Stop fighting back!" Xehanort struggled but is soon forced into a stiff position with his arms away from his sides.

"Terra I know you're in there!" Aqua shouted

While still struggling, Xehanort looked to his Keyblade and started moving his arm. Grunting as he moves, he got a hold of his keyblade and pointed it at his chest.

This'll teach you. Get out of my heart!" Xehanort shouted out as plunged the blade into his chest.

"NO! Xehanort you bastard!" Naruto shouted.

"And Terra was so close. . ." Xion muttered.

"Terra!" Aqua cried.

The Keyblade falls to the ground and vanishes. The guardian appears behind Xehanort as he glowed. he begins to fall backwards and the Guardian melts into pieces, his darkness fell away like sludge to the ground, creating a pool of darkness behind Terra's body. He buckles back and crashes into the pool and starts sinking in the abyss with his hand still afloat. The group saw Aqua racing forward and dives into the pool to try and save him and saw a light burst from the pool.

"How reckless." Shino said bluntly.

"Hey, she is trying to save a friend's life here!" Naruto shouted.

"Even so, but to just jump in there without any knowledge of what could be on the other side is just plain reckless." Shikamaru stated.

The group's attention went back to Aqua as she was now in her armor, flying after Terra's body through the darkness with the wind passing them like a whip.

"The darkness can't have you!" Aqua shouted as she extends an arm to him. She grabs him by the hand and hoists him onto her. She flies towards the light in the darkness, but it was getting further and further away.

"Come on they can make it." Naruto hoped.

"I have to do something or we'll both be lost." Aqua thought out loud.

She then dispels her glider and leaves her armor.

"What is Aqua doing!?" Naruto shouted.

"It seems she's sacrificing herself too save Terra." Kakashi replied to his student.

"B-but that can't be! What about her promise to Ven?" Naruto asked.

"Unfortunately Naruto while it is cruel, some promises might take a while to fulfill." Kakashi replied.

"So you're saying she should just brake her promise?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't say about braking her promise now did I?" Kakashi responded.

Aqua's remaining armor was holding Terra's body, she placed her keyblade into Terra's hand.

"I'm with you."Aqua said as her armor started to glow. She then sends it towards the faraway light.

"Go!" Aqua yelled. After a moment, she smiles half-heartedly as she was falling deep into the dark void.

"Ven, I'm sorry. . . I might not make it back as soon as I thought. But I promise I'll be there, one day to wake you up." Aqua said as she started falling more into the abyss.

"That explains why only her armor and keyblade were in that room." Xion thought to herself.

"Well. . . at least Aqua still hangs on to hope that she will wake up Ven." Naruto said.

* * *

><p>The group saw the vision change to a star-lit beach, with two familiar kids laying down on the sand and gazing up at the night sky.<p>

"Why are we back here?" Kiba wondered.

"I'm not really sure." Xion replied.

Riku sits up after a while and turns to Sora.

"Hey, I'm gonna head back." Riku said.

"Yeah, me too." Sora said.

They started walking towards town until Riku looks at Sora and notices something.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Riku asked.

"Huh?" Sora responded.

"Hmm. . . What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"You're. . ." Riku said pointing at Sora.

A tear fell from Sora's cheek and he puts a hand to his face, catching it which surprised him.

"That's weird. It's like something's squeezing me inside" Sora said.

"Can Sora sense what happened to Aqua?" Hinata wondered.

"Maybe. . ." Xion replied.

"Somebody up there must be sad." Riku answered.

"Up where?" Sora asked.

"They say every world is connected by one great sky. So maybe there's somebody up there in all those worlds who's really hurting, and their waiting for you to help them." Riku answered.

"That boy really is smart for his age." Kakashi said.

"True enough." Naruto said thinking how Riku came up with that kind of answer.

"Well gee, do you think there's something I could do?" Sora wondered.

"Hmm. . . Maybe they just need you to open your heart and listen." Riku answered.

"Mmm. . . I dunno Riku, you say some weird stuff sometimes, but I'll try it." Sora replied.

"Okay." Riku said.

Sora looks up, determined, and closes his eyes. Riku looks up as well.

"Those guys always have been in the middle of everything." Xion said.

"You got that right Xion." Ino said.

In the white chamber inside Castle Oblivion, the comatose Ventus rests peacefully.

Xion is still remembering where Ventus's location is "I still can't believe this. . ." She said looking down crying anime tears.

"Xion are you ok?" Hinata said placing a hand on her shoulder.

I'm. . . just peachy Hinata." Xion said smiling while still crying anime tears.

"Hey. . . can you hear me?" Sora said.

"And that's how Ventus found Sora." Sakura said.

"At least we know he is in good hands." Naruto said determined.

* * *

><p>The group then found themselves in Radiant Garden where they saw an old man with blond hair wearing a long red scarf walking with two men in uniform through the Central Square with one of the guards wearing an eyepatch over his right eye.<p>

"Right this way." Braig said to the other two.

"Him again. . ." Naruto growled clenching his fists.

"Who is he with?" Sakura wondered.

"That's. . . Ansem the Wise." Xion said.

"He's Ansem?" Kiba asked.

Ansem steps over to where Terra's body was. "Young man, what ails you?" he asked as he saw that Terra was waking up slowly.

"Can you speak? tell me your name." Ansem asked.

"Xeha. . . nort." the man grunted.

"No way. . ." Naruto said as he dropped to his knees in disbelief.

"After everything Aqua sacrificed for, it still wasn't enough. . ." Hinata muttered.

"Well she couldn't have known that this would happen." Kakashi said.

"Xehanort?" Ansem said not noticing Braig smirking as the man passed out.

"Quickly, get him to the castle!" Ansem ordered.

"You can count on me." Braig said as he picked up Xehanort.

"No, your making a mistake!" Naruto shouted at Ansem.

"It's no use. . ." Xion muttered looking down.

"Damn it, that guy is playing right into Xehanort's hands!" Kiba said

"Dilan, get those for me." Braig said to his fellow guard.

"So thats Xaldin's somebody right?" Naruto questioned.

"He seems different than his nobody." Hinata said.

"Just goes to show how people's somebody can be different than their nobody." Kakashi said.

Dilan looked at the pile of armor and keyblade and started picking up the pieces.

The group saw the memory change to an unending road in the middle of the dark abyss.

"This must be the realm of darkness." Sakura said looking around.

"How depressing. . ." Kiba said gaining nods from a few of the other members of the group.

"It feels welcoming." Sai said which caused the group to look at him funny once more.

the group then sees Aqua dragging her feet tiredly on the unending road.

"Hey Aqua's ok!" Naruto cheered.

"Naruto look again, she's dragging her feet." Shikamaru said.

Kakashi noticed how tired Aqua was and could tell from her eyes that she wasn't just wandering the realm of darkness for only a few minutes.

"Seems like I've been walking for ages. How long have I been down here?" Aqua wondered.

"Huh it can't have been that long, we only saw her a few minutes ago right?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe this is taking place in a different part of time." Kakashi responded.

"What do you mean sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I can tell just by looking at her eyes that she hasn't been down here for more than a few minutes. More like a few months or years at best." Kakashi responded which got everyone's attention.

"B-But how can that be!? Naruto exclaimed.

"You mean to say that she's been wandering the realm of darkness for who knows how long without finding an exit!?" Sakura shouted.

Suddenly a large shape looms over Aqua from the darkness with black wings and long antennae which brings back the group's attention to Aqua.

"Holy-! Where did he come from!?" Naruto yelled.

its eyes gazing at her like two burning suns. It seems to pulse with darkness. Aqua catches sight of it and summons Master Eraqus's Keyblade. Another creature of the same type appears behind her and then two more, until she is completely surrounded.

Hinata paled on the inside as she remembered fighting one of them back at the station of awakening, but seeing four of them seemed impossible to fight. While Xion remembered fighting her first Darkside encounter with Roxas back in the organization, which was the first time she actually used the keyblade, even though it was Roxas's keyblade.

"Oh come on! This is even more unfair than the fight with Xehanort!" Naruto shouted.

Aqua finds herself overwhelmed and hangs her head, dispelling the keyblade. "Maybe. . . I should fade into the darkness here" Aqua said as the constant fighting finally took its toll on her.

"No! you can't give up Aqua! what about your promise to Ven!" Naruto shouted.

One of the Heartless pulls back his fist and Naruto puts his transparent body in front of the attack as if trying to shield Aqua even knowing that it wouldn't do anything to help but he didn't care. As it moves in to deliver a crushing blow, two lights that appeared from beyond the realm pierced through the Darkside, destroying it.

"Whoa!" Kiba yelled.

"What was that!?" Ino shouted.

The lights fly past Aqua, and she sees them as Terra and Ven's Keyblades.

"Awesome!" Naruto cheered.

"Give it to them!" Kiba yelled out.

"Let the youth burn away the darkness!" Lee shouted.

The keyblades proceed to eliminate the other three Heartless before flying upward into the abyss.

"Thanks for the assistance!" Naruto shouted and waved at the two keyblades as they were leaving.

Aqua stares in their direction, and gives a small laugh, hardly believing she could.

"I guess it's been so long, I almost forgot how to smile." Aqua said pulling out her Wayfinder and looks at it for a few moments.

"Wow she really has been fighting for so long if she forgot even that." Sakura said.

"No one should ever forget to smile." Naruto stated.

Aqua smiles and looks up.

"There's always a way." Aqua said.

"There always is." Naruto said smiling gaining nods from everyone from the group as they were being transported back.

* * *

><p>Back at the garden<p>

The group was back and Naruto was now carrying two of Xaldin's lances. Everyone was silent until Xion noticed something.

"Um. . . Naruto?" Xion asked.

"Yeah?" Naruto responded.

"Where are the rest of the lances?" Xion asked remembering that Xaldin uses a total of six lances all together.

After she said that, the remaining four lances appeared but decided to land on top of Naruto's head, which caused him to fall on his back and see stars with a mini Hinata riding on them.

Everyone who was silent now was starting to laugh at what just transpired in the span of a few seconds, with the exception of Hinata who was checking to see if Naruto was all right.

Tenten who was still giggling, moved to where Naruto was, gathered the lances up and stored them in the scroll where the rest of the weapons were put.

While everyone else was laughing, Xion was looking at the last portals they hadn't done yet. "Almost there. . ."

"Indeed." Xion was shocked when she saw Shino next to her, causing her to jump. "Will you fight them?"

Xion took a deep breath before answering. . .

* * *

><p><span><strong>JG's AN:**** Well guys, it was a long wait, but I finally was able to get the chapter done! It was a lot of hard work, but now it's finally finished. . .now I gotta work on the next one. . .craaaaaaaap. . . ^^"**

**Sorry that chapters have been coming out very slowly, it's just that with college and all that crap, it ain't easy. (Maybe I should get a helper for this story I'm getting with Uchiha Heiress Remix) Anyway, leave a fave, follow the story and place a review, Later!**


	53. Chapter 53

**Hinata Chronicles Chapter 53: Dealing with the Freeshooter**

* * *

><p>". . .Yeah, I believe I will." Xion answered.<p>

Shino nodded as he continued to give off his emotionless look. "I see. . .this isn't a personal grudge. . ."

Xion nodded. "These are the final two members. . .the ones who were partners when they were somebodies. . .I got some questions to ask them."

". . .Understandable. . .after the flashbacks we've been seeing, you have questions you need answering."

* * *

><p>"There you go Naruto, all healed up." Sakura said as she used the Cure spell on Naruto to heal the bump on his head that he had gotten from Xaldin's lances.<p>

"Thanks Sakura, I appreciate it." Naruto said he got to his feet.

"You did a good job, well done but now, things will be dangerous." Kakashi said in a serious tone.

"Kakashi is right the last two members of Organization XIII are the most dangerous of all." Xion said with a very serious tone as she walked over to the group.

"If to be honest though, fighting alone against Xaldin, was too powerful although beyond what defeated." Naruto said in a calm but serious.

"How powerful are the last two exactly?" Hinata asked.

"Very," Xion started. "Very powerful as I remember, Xaldin it was ten times more powerful than Vexen. . .but," Xion paused as she looked Lord Xemnas portal before continuing. "although Lord Xemnas was the leader, clearly not all his powe. . .r" Xion said as she got depressed.

Almost the entire group went silent at the thought.

"However," Xion resumed as she turned her gaze to Xigbar portal. "Regarding Xigbar know all his power" Xion said before turning his gaze to the group. "Xigbar, the Freeshooter as his title, the number two of the Organization XIII, the second in command is very loyal to Lord Xemnas. If compared with Xaldin, Xigbar is thirty times more powerful" Xion said depressed.

Most of the group shuddered to hear what Xion said .

"He's more powerful than Xaldin?!" Naruto screamed, starting to panic.

"Yes, his movements are too fast since he's able to warp, sniper rifles are also accurate and very dangerous with few blind spots, he shoots with great accuracy and speed, the only way to defeat him is fighting hand to hand, but Xigbar knows his own weakness and avoid at all costs to come to him." Xion explained.

"Um. . . excuse me, Xion?" Shikamaru waved.

"Yes Shikamaru." Xion responded.

"What is a sniper rifle exactly?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Huh?" Xion said looking at the lazy smart Shinobi.

"We come from a world where there is mostly hand to hand combat so this sniper rifle sounds like a distance weapon and there is almost no distance weapons fighting unless you count our ninjutsu or kunai and shurikens." Shino stated.

"Oh! Umm. . . well A Sniper Rifle is a gun that can shoot enemies from extremely long distances." Xion replied.

"What is a gun?" Naruto asked now out of his panic mode.

"Uhh. . . Well a gun is a projectile based weapon that shoots these things called bullets that can really hurt someone if it hits something very fatal." Xion answered.

"Yeah plus there are different types and varieties of guns." Tenten added.

"Wait. . . you know what a gun is Tenten?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I actually bought Machine guns and a gunblade like Leon had when I went shopping with Yuffie." Tenten answered.

"Oh. . . so what is a bullet then?" Kiba asked.

"And what is a Machine gun exactly?" Choji added.

"Ugh. . ." Xion facepalmed as the questions kept rising.

"Let me help you Xion." Tenten said as she put her hand on Xion's shoulder.

"Thanks Tenten." Xion replied accepting the group's weapon expert's help.  
>For the next few minutes Xion and Tenten were answering the groups questions on guns to the best of their abilities and knowledge until Shikamaru spoke up.<p>

"You know the more we learn about guns, the more I'm being reminded how primitive our world is." Shikamaru stated as he remembered Cid's weapon.

"Why do you say that?" Xion asked.

"Think about it, during your stay at the village, did you ever see weapons like guns around?" Shino asked.

Xion thought it over "Now that you mentioned it, no I haven't. What are you saying?" She asked.

"That not only is he tough like you said, but this is the first time we are up against someone who has an extremely technological advantage over us." Kakashi answered.

"Yeah all of the other members that we faced, were using weapons that had us go hand to hand like we always do back home." Sakura said.

"You know, you got a very good point there." Xion said.

"Although there are ways we can counter him right? you said so yourself." Hinata said.

"There is, but I'm just starting to remember what Xaldin pulled last time. I'm starting to worry that Xigbar could have something up his sleeve as well?" Xion said.

Naruto's mind went back to the attack Xaldin used to almost beat him "True. . ." He muttered.

"So to defeat him. . ." Ino started.

"I decided the three that will be going in will be me, Hinata, and Naruto." Xion said with determination.

Everyone looked at Xion and some raised their eyebrows at the choice she made.

"Huh, me again?" Naruto couldn't help but question her.

"But why?" Hinata asked.

"No matter how many times I run a strategy through my head, Naruto is the only one that can fit the . . . part of the role that I kinda need to fill." Xion said nervously.

"And what role is that?" Kakashi asked with a raised eye brow.

"Well one of Xigbar's main weaknesses, is that his guns can run out of ammo so he needs to reload every time he runs out, and in that time for him to reload there will be a small window for us to deal some major damage to him." Xion said to the group.

"That still doesn't explain why you would choose Naruto again." Sakura said.

"Basically, with Naruto and his Shadow clone technique, I was hoping it would manage to make Xigbar empty out his guns faster." Xion said.

"So you're saying that you want to use Naruto to take all the bullets like a human shield is that it." Shikamaru plainly stated.

"Don't put it like that! I was going for more on the lines as acting as a decoy to distract Xigbar!" Xion quickly said.

"That still sounds like using him as a shield." Sai said.

"I agree." Shino nodded.

"Ugh, I am not using him as a shield! Besides, Xigbar will also go for me and Hinata as well, so he's not taking all of the attacks." Xion said.

"Yeah, only 90% of the attacks will go for him while the rest go to you two girls." Kiba joked.

"You're not helping!" Xion yelled.

"It's ok Xion, I don't mind." Naruto said.

"But Naruto, you still haven't fully recovered all of your Chakra from your fight with Xaldin yet." Hinata said.

It's ok Hinata I came prepared." Sakura said as she now had a basket with her.

"Uhh. . . Sakura what is that?" Ino asked.

"This basket contains my homemade food pills, with this all of Naruto's chakra will be back to him in a matter of moments. Here, why don't you guys try them." Sakura said smiling as she gave one to each of the group members.

"Ok. . . What exactly did you put in them?" Sai said as he and others were examining their food pills.

As Sakura closed her eyes and started explaining what she used for the ingredients, Some of the members including Naruto took a small bite from their pills. After a few seconds passed, they froze and started getting a little sick.

As Sakura finished her explanation, she looked to the group and noticed that some of the members were missing. "Huh? where did Sai, Kiba, Tenten, Choji, and Ino go?" Sakura asked Hinata.

"Umm. . ." Hinata hesitated as she quickly pocketed her pill.

"Well. . ." Xion followed Hinata's example.

"They uhh. . . needed to. . . umm. . . take a bathroom break!" Naruto quickly said and hoped it would trick her, while he tried to not fall on his knees. "Oh god! I feel my Chakra returning, but I feel like my stomach just got punched by one of Sakura's usual punches!" Naruto screamed in his mind.

"Ok. . ." Sakura said as she bought what her teammate said for the time being.

"You know Sakura, some of the enemies that we defeat would sometimes drop mp spheres to restore some of the energy that we use up." Hinata said.

"Yeah they look like big blue bubbles." Xion added.

"Yeah I remember seeing them, I also added them to my recipe along with those green and yellow spiral orbs." Sakura said.

"Uhh what?" Xion said at a loss for words.

"Hey Xion, next time lets get someone to give Sakura lessons on synthesizing elixirs and other items." Hinata whispered next to to her fellow keyblade wielder.

"Yeah good idea, though it wouldn't hurt for everyone to receive the same training." Xion replied.

"Well we kept you guys here long enough, time to go forward." Kakashi said.

Naruto, and the two keyblade wielders started to walk through the portal. As Xion was the last person to go through, the remaining members of the group looked to the screen but only saw static and no one bothered to comment on anything. Time also was starting to slow down until it came to a complete stop.

* * *

><p>Xion looked around to see if both Naruto and Hinata are around but they were not to be seen. She then noticed that the place she was at was not the Hall of empty melodies, but a familiar wasteland filled with nothing but dead lifeless keyblades.<p>

"But. . . this can't be right." Xion said still trying to figure out what happened.

Then, a dark pillar rose from the ground which brought Xion back to reality. After a few seconds, the darkness dissipated and she was staring at Xigbar, but Xion couldn't help but feel that something was off.

"Xigbar?" Xion asked.

". . . . . ." Xigbar just stood there with a blank look on his face.

"I want to ask you a few things." Xion said with a serious look.

". . . . . ." Xigbar still did not move.

"Are you even listening to me!?" Xion shouted now pointing her keyblade at him.

". . . . . ." Xigbar still did not say anything as he materialized his arrow guns and got into battle position.

'Xigbar' immediately fired four shots at Xion and she blocked them, then she charged at him only to warp away and fire seven quick shots with her deflecting three of them and side rolled dodge the other four.

Xion then saw that he was charging up his gun, she immediately threw her keyblade to disrupt 'Xigbar's' attack, but what she saw next shocked her.

'Xigbar' cancelled out his attack by dematerializing his gun and grabbed her keyblade in mid flight with his hand, and threw it right back at her. She dodged out of the way and saw that her keyblade impaled itself right next to her. Xion quickly got back up and grabbed her keyblade out of the ground now resuming her stance.

"You're. . . not Xigbar are you?" Xion said temporally stopped attacking him, knowing that the Xigbar she knew couldn't do what the man in front of her did just now.

". . . . . ." the man's continued silence proved Xion's question.

"Who are you really?" Xion asked.

". . . . . ." the silence continued as he put away his arrow guns and pulled his hood up covering his head and face as he turned around and started walking away.

"Hey, come back here!" Xion now running twoards him.

As she got closer, Xion was immediately pulled by some strange force. She tried to stand her ground but in a few moments, Xion was swept away into a portal.

After that, the figure waited, until he snapped his fingers and he too was gone.

* * *

><p>"Is this thing broken?" Sakura said as she stared at the srceen.<p>

"Calm down Sakura, I'm sure it's just loading up the picture." Kakashi said.

Time had resumed but the screen was still showing static. After a few seconds passed, the screen showed the place where they needed to fight Xigbar.

* * *

><p>"Man this place is huge." Naruto commented as he looked around.<p>

Both Naruto and Hinata looked and saw that they were on a large platform suspended in the middle of a pit.

Hinata noticed that Xion had a blank far off look on her. "Xion is there something wrong?" Hinata asked.

"Huh. . . what, sorry Hinata I was just thinking." Xion replied.

"About what?" Hinata asked.

"It's just, I feel like i'm forgetting something very important, but no matter how I try to remember it, I'm drawing blanks." Xion answered.

"Don't worry, it will come to you whe-." Hinata said.

Their conversation was interrupted when Naruto saw a small light-like arrow bolt placed near his feet.

"Huh? what is this thing?" Naruto said examining it closer.

"Naruto get back!" Xion shouted immediately recognizing the arrow.

"Wha-?" in an instant, multiple bolts started started raining down on the trio.

Naruto jumped behind Hinata and both Keyblade wielders cast reflect spells to act as shields for the incoming barrage. After the last bolt was deflected the trio looked up to see the one behind the raining bolt arrows on the balcony.

"So glad you guys can make it." Xigbar said reloading his weapons.

"Xigbar. . . now it's your turn!" Xion shouted.

"Yeah come down here so we can kick your ass!" Naruto added.

"Ha! you think I'm going to just be defeated the same way like the others? As If! I'm going to enjoy making you suffer miss traitor." Xigbar jumped down and landed in front of them.

"Before we begin, Are you Braig?" Xion asked.

"Heh, Mr. Original did say he wanted to face off against you guys, but he said there was more important things to attend to besides facing little miss puppet and her useless lackeys." Xigbar not caring about answering questions.

"Hey you take that back! Xion's not a puppet anymore, she's free from you people. Plus, if you checked the score, we've beaten all the other members!" Naruto shouted.

"You really think that Miss traitor over there is free from us? As If! Also, unlike the others, I'm more of a recent version of me so while you're not fighting the real me like you did with the others, I'm more upgraded enough to make you suffer and beg of mercy!" Xigbar started to glare and gripped his arrow guns tightly.

"Either way, you're going down like the rest! And I will never beg for mercy to the likes of you!" Xion shouted and both oppositions took their stances.

* * *

><p>Back outside,<p>

"This guy is a lot different from the others." Shino said.

"Yeah, also where are the others? They should've been back by now." Sakura said, looking around to see if the other members came back from their 'bathroom break'.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'm sure their just fine." Kakashi said while hearing faint sounds of someone writhing in pain. "Though what he mean by saying Xion isn't free?" Kakashi thought.

* * *

><p>"You really shouldn't have betrayed us." Xigbar said bringing one of his guns on his shoulder.<p>

Naruto quickly summoned seven shadow clones but were shot down as soon as they were summoned. "Don't think I forgot about your power to multiply. If you were planning on using them as a decoy let me tell you some advice, the more you summon, the faster I put them down." Xigbar said as he started spinning his guns and combined them to form a longer gun then warped away and started looking through the scope.

"Gotcha now!" Xigbar said as he took aim.

"Everyone get out of the line of sight, we're in his range!" Xion side roll dodged four shots.

"Naruto be careful!" Hinata deflected four shots and dodged six.

"Hinata! Whoa!" Naruto dodged ten shots with one of them passing inches from his face.

Xion deflected five shots and they went back to the owner.

"Gah! Clever little sneak." Xigbar was holding his arm as he separated his guns, and warped back to the stage.

"There he is!" Naruto charges at Xigbar only for him to warp to another part of the stage and fired five shots at him from behind. Hinata intercepted the shots and deflected them right back at Xigbar. However, he tilted his head to dodge three of them, then reabsorbed the other two by blocking them with his gun.

"You never did that before!" Xion shouted.

"You thought my abilities would be the same as when I lost to Sora and his friends? As If! I'm now new and improved!" Xigbar stated.

* * *

><p>Back outside,<p>

"That's not good." Sakura said.

"For Xigbar to pull something that even Xion didn't know, shows us that these guys have improved themselves." Kakashi said.

"I'm also wondering how is it that when we faced the organization they never pulled any new attacks on us?" Shino wondered.

"Maybe because the founding members had more time to develop their techniques while we were fighting the others." Shikamaru answered.

"And let's not forget that we took a break before we got to them, as well as dealing with the threat outside the town." Kakashi added.

* * *

><p>"Dammit! I did expect Xigbar to have a trick up his sleeve, but I never expected him to pulled it out so soon." Xion thought as she deflected seven shots with her keyblade.<p>

"Heads up!" Xigbar created two portals and put his guns through them then hinata noticed two portals opening near them. "Xion lookout!" they both dodged out of the line of fire, but one of the shots hit Xion's leg causing her to flinch.

"Guh! Heal!" Xion casted a cure spell to treat her leg wound and dodged four shots.

"Time to reload!" Xigbar shouted, warpping to the other side of the stage.

"Oh no you don't!" Xion took aim and threw her keyblade at Xigbar to stop him from reloading. However, Xigbar had one more bullet in his clip and he used it to shoot the keyblade out of it's spin and it rematerialized back to Xion as he reloaded his guns.

"As they say, keep one in the chamber." Xigbar said as a bright flash engulfed the room.

* * *

><p>"What the- what's happening!?" Sakura said.<p>

"This must be one of Xigbar's techniques." Kakashi said.

"Hey guys were back. Did we miss out on anything?" Kiba shouted getting everyone's attention.

"You guys sure took your time." Sakura said.

"Hey if wasn't for-!?" Kiba was interrupted by Ino and Sai who grabbed Kiba and went to another part of the room until they all came back smiling.

"What was that just now?" Sakura asked.

"What was what Sakura?" Ino said smiling.

"What you and Sai did to Kiba moments ago." Sakura stated.

"What do you mean?" Sai said following Ino's example.

"I mean- you know what, I don't even want to ask anymore." Sakura gave up and turned back to the screen.

* * *

><p>"What the, what is this!?" Naruto yelled as the stage layout was entirely different now as it is now a long thin walkway with Xigbar on one side and the team on the other end.<p>

"AH! I forgot to mention that Xigbar has the ability to change the layout appearance of the stage!" Xion said.

"No time to say sorry, here he comes!" Naruto deflected five shots.

"Is that all you guys have? We didn't even get to the good parts yet." Xigbar taunted.

Xigbar was putting the group on the defensive showing hardly any openings in his attack pattern. "Dammit, you know what, forget this its time to go in blazing!" Naruto summoned his energy and transformed into his new drive form. He then extended the length of the whip and struck Xigbar's hand disarming him of one of his guns.

"Ow! that's gonna sting!" Xigbar then saw Xion appear in front of him and delivered a moderate combo strike against him. "Ahhhhh!" The room was engulfed in light and the stage was back to normal.

"Ergh! Not bad, those hits packed quite a punch." Xigbar reloaded his remaining gun.

Naruto saw the other gun on the floor and picked it up. "Now the fight is even." Naruto said as he aimed the gun at the owner.

"You know during your friend's fight with Demyx, I actually made a slight modification to my weapons in the case you guys manage to get your hands on them." Xigbar stated as he had the biggest smirk on his face.

"Naruto get rid of the gun now!" The gun immediately exploded causing Naruto to be blown back and hit the invisible wall severely, making him cough up blood.

* * *

><p>Back outside, Sakura was starting to feel guilty on what just happened.<p>

"You ok forehead?" Ino asked as everyone noticed Sakura with her head down.

"That modification Xigbar made, was due to my anger at what Demyx put me, Hinata, and Tenten through. What happened to Naruto is basically karma for what I did! And now he's using it as payback!" Sakura said feeling guilty.

"It's all right Sakura." Ino said.

"Yeah, you couldn't have known this would happen. None of us could have seen this coming." Tenten added also feeling a bit of guilt as well.

* * *

><p>Back to the fight.<p>

"Naruto hold on! Heal!" Hinata cast a cure spell wiping all the burn wounds.

"Thanks- Agh!" Naruto clutched his arm still feeling the pain.

"Even if you heal the wounds, the nerves will still react to the pain." Xigbar stated as he rematerialized the gun that was destroyed into his hand now fully repaired and reloaded. "And besides didn't anyone tell you guys that taking something that doesn't belong to you, can have severe consequences?" Xigbar said in a mocking tone.

"Shut up!" Xion charged at Xigbar and unleashed a flurry of attacks keeping Xigbar on the defense.

"Whoa! What's with all the wild swinging?" Xigbar said blocking all of the blows.

Xion kept up her attacks, but none of them were connecting with the body. "Dammit why! How! You were never this strong!"

"As I said before, I'm new and improved." Xigbar then shot three rounds at Xion at point blank range which Xion blocked in time but Xigbar then fiercely kicked Xion in the stomach causing her to be pushed back.

"Guh!" Xion held her stomach and fired a blizzard spell which hit Xigbar dead center in the chest.

"Ergh! Heh heh. . . looks like you got some fight still left in ya huh? But not for long." Xigbar Warped to where Xion was on the ground and pointed his gun at her head.

"I'll still fight even if I'm all spent. Now you guys!" Xion shouted

"What the-!?" Xigbar turned to see both Naruto and Hinata flank him from behind and simultaneously attacked together making him receive massive damage from the dual strike and they finished the combo with Naruto's rasengan which sent him flying towards the other side of the stage.

"You ok Xion?" Hinata cast a cure spell.

"I'll be fine." Xion answered.

"Heh heh- ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The trio turned around and saw Xigbar standing without a single scratch on him.

"All right, now were talking!"Xigbar's weapons now started to emit a dark aura.

* * *

><p>Everyone was shocked on how fast Xigbar recovered from the Rasengan.<p>

"How is that guy still standing! I mean I know that he's stronger than most of the guys we fought up till now, but I never thought he would just recover from Naruto's attack like that!" Kiba said.

"You're guess is as good as mine Kiba." Shikamaru said trying to figure out how Xigbar managed to not only recover from the attack earlier, but from how he doesn't have a single scratch on him.

* * *

><p>"H-How, How did you get back up so quickly from that!" Naruto yelled.<p>

"You really expected me to dissolve from that weak impact you called an attack? As If! I told you already, we never got to the good parts yet." Xigbar stated.

"So all that just a few minutes ago was you just toying with us!?" Xion shouted.

"Bingo kiddos. But let's drop the first set of kiddy gloves off and get the real fight started." The bullet clips on Xigbar's guns started changing colors, from purple to pure black.

You're still going down you bastard!" Naruto charged at him with another rasengan, however Xigbar just lazily dodged it by side stepping and kicked him back to where the others were at, which made Naruto's attack dissolve.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Hinata asked.

"Word to the obvious, that won't exactly work on me if you charge at me head on. Now it's my turn!" Xigbar teleported further back and pointed one of his guns at the group.

"Huh?"Hinata noticed that Xigbar's gun was absorbing large quantities of dark energy, and the energy was skyrocketing at an alarming rate.

"Xion! Naruto! We need to get out of the way! He's unleashing something devastating!" Hinata shouted.

"TAKE THIS!" Xigbar fired what looked like his normal bullets, only it was blue with the center black and it was larger than normal.

The group got out of the way, but it bounced off the walls heading right at Naruto as he was still recovering from his dodge.

Hinata intercepted the pathway and deflected the bullet right back to Xigbar, only for him to reabsorb it and shoot it out again but this time without the charge up. The bullet started ricocheting faster, making it very hard to pinpoint when it's going to go to it's intended target.

Suddenly, in an instant the bullet found it's mark as it impacted itself in Naruto, pushing him towards Xigbar as he fired his next charged shot which hit him right in the chest knocking the air out of his lungs, flew across the stage, and slammed against the invisible wall leaving crack marks on where he slammed against, before repairing itself as Naruto fell to the ground face down gasping for air.

"NARUTO!" Hinata ran to his side and casted a cure spell, but he was still gasping for air.

"What's wrong? Mr. Hurricane lose his air?" Xigbar mocked.

"You'll pay for that Xigbar!" Xion charged with her keyblade raised high and swung diagonally, but Xigbar blocked the attack and pushed her back. She slid back and saw Xigbar charging up his gun again.

"TAKE THIS!" Xigbar once again fired the large bullet but this time aimed directly at Xion.

Xion deflected the bullet and it started ricocheting out of control until it went to Xigbar who reabsorbed it like last time and fired it again.

Xion managed to block the bullet, but like last time it started moving faster.

"Dammit we can't be on the defensive forever! There has to be some way to get out of this attack pattern!" Xion was trying to think of ways to beat Xigbar's pattern while dodging the relentless bullet as well as Xigbar's regular shots.

"How long can you keep dancing Xion before you trip up?" Xigbar taunted. Suddenly, his face lit up like he just had an idea and temporally stopped his attack and reabsorbed all his bullets.

"Why are you stopping Xigbar, you gonna give up now?" Xion was confused as to why the shooting came to a stop.

"No, I was thinking maybe I should call you by your little nickname I gave you from way back in the Organization days. What do ya say?" Xigbar taunted some more.

Xion went wide-eyed as she looked at Hinata and Naruto who was still on the ground but managed to get his breathing back to normal, both giving her confused looks. "You wouldn't. . ." She growled out.

Xigbar smirked as he twirled one of his arrow guns. "I would. . .Poppet. . ."

Xion twitched as she rush at him. "I AM NO PUPPET! I'M HUMAN NOW!"

"And there's the angry look I want to see." Xigbar said as he was lazily blocking and dodging wave after wave of slash attacks coming from an enraged Xion.

* * *

><p>Back outside.<p>

"I never knew Xion had such an unyouthful nickname." Lee shook his head.

"To think she would be called a puppet even in her old job." Sakura muttered.

"It must be hard for someone to keep being called a puppet over and over again." Shino adjusted his glasses.

"So it's fine as long as we still say that she's human right?" Sai said.

"Sai?" Sakura turned to the painter.

"We keep saying that Xion is human right? Then, can that be enough for her to be human?" Sai asked.

Everyone started thinking on what Sai just said.

"That right, even if everyone in the world says that Xion's a puppet, to us she's human!" Kiba said.

"Yeah if the world is against her, we won't be!" Ino said with flames in her eyes.

"I'm actually surprised you of all people would say something nice Sai, I have newfound respect for you." Sakura said.

"Really? Thanks ugly forehead." Sai was thrown across the room.

"And the newfound respect that I had for you just now is gone." Sakura said as she went back to watching the screen, with everyone else who decided not to comment on what she did to Sai.

* * *

><p>"Is this all you can muster poppet?" Xigbar was blocking Xion's attacks without even trying now.<p>

"AHHHH!" Xion lost herself in her anger trying to land a hit on her tormentor.

"I'll admit your tenacious about trying to kill me, but with the way you are now sooner or later. . ." Xigbar did a low sweep kick, knocking Xion off her feet and points his gun at her head. "You lose your focus." Xigbar smirked.

"Shut up!" Xion growled as Xigbar jumped back from Naruto and Hinata's slash attacks.

"Xion you all right?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah I'll live, thanks for that." Xion got up.

"You need to calm down Xion. This is exactly what Xigbar wants."

"Yeah, you're so worked up you're not focusing on him." Naruto added.

Xion looked down "You're right, it's just that back then I never really knew what that nickname was until it was too late."

"I take it you wanted to get back at him for that name right?" Naruto asked blocking nine shots.

"Yeah. . ." Xion answered blocking six shots.

"You can get back at him by not losing your cool, as much as I hate to admit it, Xigbar did make a good point by saying that you lose your focus if you just swing wildly like you did back there." Hinata stated blocking ten shots.

"You're right, thanks for snapping me out guys." Xion took point and renewed her posture and reignited her spirit as she blocked the oncoming shots.

"Well well, so miss poppet finally managed to move on has she?" Xigbar said noticing all of her rage just vanished.

"That's right Xigbar, now it's time for you to taste defeat!" Xion crossed her arms with hands stretched out and gathered both of her friend's energy as it coiled around her, wrapping itself until it burst showing her in final form.

"Hmph, let's see your newly repaired spirit then." the trio took their battle stances as more dark energy started to gather in Xigbar's guns.

Xion launched herself at Xigbar, but before she could do anything a bright flash blinded the the trio and the stage layout changed again to a small platform and Xigbar was in the middle as he started pouring out energy from his body.

"I have a little game for ya!" Xigbar started spinning, shooting his guns as his bullets were now glowing white.

"Not this routine again!" Naruto shouted as the team dodged while in Xion's case blocked them with her Keyblades. Xigbar then warped out of the stage and started shooting faster making the team dodge and block the bullets from all directions until Xigbar returned to the center and his guns were glowing bright as they spun insanely at a fast rate.

"Now, let's see how ya dance!" Xigbar created two black holes crossed his arms as he put his guns in both the black holes, and held down the trigger firing endlessly.

The trio went back to back as they saw multiple bullets coming at them fast. They were blocking as many as they could, while some of them managed to scrape their limbs, but they didn't feel the pain as their focus was on blocking the incoming shots. As more bullets kept appearing, Xion decided to put up a reflect barrier to block the rest of the oncoming bullets until the room flashed again and the stage layout was back to normal.

The group fell to their knees trying to recover from both the blocking plus the wounds they sustained from the bullets they couldn't block.

"Ow. . . that's gonna leave a mark." Naruto flinched feeling the nerves reacting.

"That it you guys? You're not giving up now are you?" Xigbar stood on the opposite side of the stage sporting a disappointing look.

"In you're dreams!" Xion shouted breathing heavily.

"Well good to hear. Let's see you block this one then!" Xigbar pointed one of his guns at Xion and said person expected him to shoot his charged bullet, but what Xion saw shocked her as the bullets from Xigbar's clip broke off and went in front of Xigbar now spiraling around just like what Xaldin did with his lances during the previous fight.

"You too!" Naruto shouted.

"Now time for you to feel the pain!" Xigbar pulled the trigger and instead of bullets coming out, a laser blast headed straight for Xion.

Xion casted a reflect spell to block the attack, but the beam pierced right through the shield like butter and went right through Xion's right arm.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Xion fell to her knees screaming in agonizing pain, as she clutched her arm which completely showed no damage.

"XION!" Both her teammates shouted.

"You like my new technique? While it is just like how Marluxia's method of attack works by leaving the body unharmed, Mine on the other hand is unblockable by magic, and it attacks the nerves it hits instead of just one primary target." Xigbar said smirking at his results.

"THAT'S IT YOU BASTARD!" Naruto summoned thirty clones and all of them charged at Xigbar. However, he spun while firing his laser technique, passing through all of the clones and in an instant, all of the clones were gone and Naruto fell to the ground now writhing in excruciating pain.

"NARUTO!" Hinata shouted.

"Another plus is that if I hit any copies, the original gets the full burn of the attack. And like I told you in the beginning, the faster you summon your clones, the faster I put them down." Xigbar said still smirking as he kicked Naruto to where his friends were.

Both Xion and Naruto were on their knees still stunned, trying to shake off the pain. Hinata got in front of them bringing her keyblade forward.

"Well well, so Miss Pale eyes wants to go next." Xigbar mocked.

"I won't let you have your way any longer." Hinata took her stance.

"Hmph." Xigbar fired at Hinata and she deflected the beam upwards with her keyblade.

"I knew it." Hinata said.

"Well well, you caught on. How did you figure it out?" Xigbar asked.

"You told us that your attack was unblockable. However, you said it can't be block through magic methods and you never mentioned any physical methods in your statement." Hinata answered.

"Well give the girl a round of applause. You're right, my technique was made to combat people who rely too much on their magic. After all, people today are using magic instead of strength nowadays if you look at it. Wouldn't you agree?" Xigbar said.

Hinata thought about what Xigbar said, and she realized that his words are making some sense to her in a way.

"While you have figured out the flaw in my attack, it doesn't mean that you have already achieved victory." Xigbar said readying another laser blast.

* * *

><p>Back outside,<p>

"This guy is pulling out one trick after another." Kiba said looking at the battle.

"Well this is the right hand man of the organization, so it would make sense." Shino stated.

"Though times like this, I wish the fight was more like the other ones." Sakura said looking at Naruto and Xion with concern.

* * *

><p>Hinata was now on full defense mode as she was deflecting laser shots with her keyblade, letting none of them get past her while her two teammates were still trying to get back up.<p>

As the laser shots were increasing, Xion threw her keyblade to Hinata grabbing it and now started deflecting the shots twice as much.

"Well I'll admit You're really good at defending, it makes me wonder how long you're little routine is going to last until you can delay the inevitable defeat no more." Xigbar stated not letting up on his laser barrage.

"I'll never give up! I'll keep defending my friends!" Hinata said in determination while under fire.

"Then I guess it's time, for me to put an end you're futile effort." Xigbar took aim and shot Xion's keyblade out of Hinata's hand and combined his two guns to fire a concentrated laser at Hinata which said person brought her keyblade in front of her and is now standing her ground as the beam was pushing her back.

"Looks like you'll just have to learn the hard way." Xigbar said.

"Guh! I'm. . . still. . . standing!" Hinata was struggling with her teeth gritted together now closing her eyes to keep the beam from overwhelming her.

"Just try to-!" Xigbar was still maintaining his attack until he realized something. "H-Hey, you're not gonna-!"

Too late, the beam was starting to change color from white to blue with lightning of the same color discharging from it, hitting Hinata as she redirected the beam back to Xigbar.

Xigbar broke off his attack to reabsorb the beam and saw the blue lightning that discharged from his attack moments ago, was now coursing through Hinata's body as she fell to one knee.

"Hinata! Are you all right!?" Xion and Naruto managed to get up and got close to Hinata.

"D-don't worry, I-I'm fine." Lightning was still going through her body.

"Fine!? You're body is discharging blue lightning and you're saying that you're fine!?"

"I-It's not a-as painful as it l-looks." Hinata muttered.

"Looks like the electricity bill is going to cost her an arm and a leg." Xigbar taunted.

"You shut up!" Xion shouted.

Xigbar then fired three fast shots at the group knocking them back onto the floor. "You're all tired from being defensive, as well as enduring the pain I put you guys through. Oh well, I dragged this fight out long enough, time to end it."

Xigbar put his guns together and charged up his attack. "It can't end like this." Xion thought as Xigbar completed his charge up and fired a concentrated laser at the group, only for it to be intercepted by Hinata who was blocking it with her bare hands covered with chakra instead of her keyblade.

"What!?" Xigbar was caught off guard from the reckless maneuver Hinata was pulling.

"HINATA!" Naruto shouted while Xion was trying to reach out to Hinata as she was flinching at the nerves that were being set off in her hands.

"I-I'll. . . p-p-pro-tect m-m-my. . . f-f-frie-nds!" Hinata muttered through her pain. Unknown to everyone, some of Xion's energy was transferring itself to Hinata as she was blocking Xigbar's laser attack.

"Hmph! You actually believe that you'll win. As If! Why not just give up this futile struggle!" Xigbar shouted.

Hinata's Eyes had a burning resolve in them. "I-I'll . . ." Hinata remembered all of the hardships, pain, and promises she made to herself pass through in an instant.

Her heart was starting to beat faster as more memories and dreams passed before her.

Ba-bump!-

"I'll. . .!" From seeing Naruto's resolve everyday.

Ba-bump!-

"I'll. . .!" to seeing herself in a new tomorrow for everyone.

Ba-bump!-

"I'll. . .!" to seeing herself renewing her promise to bring Neji back home to Konoha.

Ba-bump!-

"I'll. . . N-Never. . ."

Ba-bump!-

"GIVE UP!" Hinata was enveloped in a sphere of light, causing Xigbar to once again brake off his attack, and shielded himself from the blinding light.

* * *

><p>Back outside,<p>

The screen was flashing so brightly, everyone had to cover their eyes even Shino who had sunglasses.

"Wha- What's happening!?" Sakura shouted.

"I don't know!" Ino replied.

Kakashi who was able to shake off the bright glare, lifted up his headband and showed his Sharingan and while it was blurry, he could see what was happening in the sphere.

* * *

><p>Inside the sphere-<p>

The blue lightning was starting to intensify as it kept going from one part of the body to another, until it discharged completely from Hinata's body and into the sphere.

The lightning started to course throughout the sphere's interior and multiplied itself until all of the blue electric discharges directed their path to Hinata who was in the center. However, instead of electrocuting her, the blue lightning was starting to change her clothes to the same blue color and her keyblade was spinning in front of her.

After a few moments, Hinata crossed her arms and flew them out causing the sphere to brake. The shards formed into bright spheres and gathered into her keyblade and it launch itself into the air.

As the light cleared out, everyone including the people outside saw Hinata now in new blue clothes. She grabbed her keyblade as it came in front of her, and spun it around casting a Cure spell on herself and her teammates.

The green light passed through the trio and not only did it heal their wounds, but wiped away their fatigue.

"Hey, I feel better! My burn wounds are gone and my fatigue is going away!" Naruto said getting up.

"As I said before, I will protect my friends. And I am not giving up." Hinata took her stance.

* * *

><p>Back outside,<p>

Everyone was in awe at Hinata's new form.

"Would you look at that!" Kiba shouted.

"She really has change a lot over the span of two years." Shino said.

"You can say that again Shino." Sakura said remembering the days at the academy and seeing Hinata today.

* * *

><p>"So what!? you think new clothes could beat me? As if! You may have new powers, but as with Sora and his group, I won't go down that easily!" Xigbar started emitting more dark aura.<p>

"Xion, Naruto you guys ok?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, thanks to your powered up spell." Xion said.

"Come on, let's put this guy down!" Naruto threw his blades into the air and caught them with the whip retracting turning itself back to normal, then emitted red energy forming into a curved blade. His clothes also changed from green, to the same red color as the blades.

"What, you tired of being green Whiskers?" Xigbar laughed.

Nope, just wanted to use something different to shut that mouth of your permanently!" Naruto shouted going into fighting stance.

"Yeah whatever. Anyway let the carnage continue!" Xigbar resumed his firing and targeted the trio as they scattered.

Naruto summoned five clones, but three of them got shot down giving Naruto a slight jolt of pain but shook it off, while the remaining two blocked their shots aimed for them and got near the two keyblade wielders as they were under fire.

Xion and Hinata were blocking the shots with their keyblades, then Hinata got close and engaged in key to gun combat with both attackers dodging each others shots at point blank range, until Hinata kicked him away and fired a blizzard spell slightly larger than Xion's version, which hit him in his shoulder making him flinch.

"Argh! That one's got more power than the last one." Xigbar then saw Xion charging at him. He fired and he saw Naruto's clone get in front of her and took the bullet making him disappear and Naruto flinched a bit.

"Well, nice job using your own teammate's clone as a human meat shield." Xigbar praised.

Xion's eyebrow twitched. "For the last time I'm not using him as a shield!" She shouted annoyed that Xigbar was saying the same thing as the group outside before the fight.

* * *

><p>Back outside<p>

"See even Xigbar gets the picture!" Kiba said.

"You know, it's kinda funny seeing how we all came to the same conclusion."

* * *

><p>"Now that I think about it, with everyone changing their fighting styles and stuff, let me in on the trend." Xigbar crossed his arms covering his head and darkness started erupting from his guns.<p>

"OH, COME ON!" Xion shouted as the team covered shielded their eyes.

As the darkness subsided, they saw Xigbar was dual wielding two of his long rifles, and he spun the rifles around like they were his normal weapons. "All right kiddos, let's take off the second set of kiddy gloves and have some fun!" Xigbar as he aimed both his long rifles at the trio.

Xigbar fired one the rifles and the shot looked like his charged shot, only it was pure white like his shots from his desperation and he didn't have to charge it.

They all dodged the shot and expected it to bounce off the wall but they saw the bullet impact itself on the wall and exploded. "Yeah, while I can now shoot my charged bullets like I would do with my normal bullets, the drawback is that they can't bounce, but on the plus side, they explode if they come into contact with the wall." Xigbar stated as he continued firing his rifles with precise accuracy.

Everyone was on the defensive once more as they were deflecting Xigbar's new instant charged shots, while keeping away from the walls to avoid getting caught by a backlash. Hinata aimed and fired three shots, but Xigbar fired three shots canceling both attacks out.

Naruto then summoned seven clones during the shootout, and charged at Xigbar, but he spun his rifles around blocking all of Naruto's attacks from every angle, and shot them down causing Naruto to feel pain, then roundhouse kicked the real one in the head making him stumble backwards. Then Xion took over by passing him and brought her two keyblades above her and brought them down, only to be blocked by one of the rifles and on instinct, she moved one of her keyblades in front of her body as Xigbar fired his other rifle at her stomach blocking the bullet completely Then she moved both rifles away leaving Xigbar wide open, and jumped in the air as Hinata fired a Ragnarok strike that had a more focused spread fire than Sora's and all shots hit Xigbar's body.

"Gah! Now this is getting good!" Xigbar was smiling as he brought both rifles above his head and fired in the air.

The trio looked up and saw multiple waves of bullet showers locked on them and bolted towards where they were standing.

Both Keyblade wielders took their stances and started blocking for their lives while Naruto summoned ten clones and charged through deflecting the shots coming down on them. seven of the clones got shot down, while the other three got below Xigbar and kicked him hard enough to be launched into the air halting the bullet rain.

"Guh!" Xigbar saw the real Naruto in front of him charging both of his blades until he swung them cutting Xigbar's body, but his rifles saved him in time from the majority of the attack while his shoulders were slashed.

"Ergh!" Xigbar flinched as he countered Naruto by pushing him away and when Xion tried to slash him, he warped away from them and fired six shots at Xion's back, but was intercepted by Hinata's shots which caused the attacks to explode in mid air.

Xigbar fired eight shots going for Naruto and before Hinata could react, he warped in front of Hinata and engaged in close gun combat and despite Hinata having improved speed movement thanks to her new form, Xigbar is still able to keep up with her as he tossed one of his rifles in the air, then uppercutted Hinata with enough power to launch her in the air. He warped to his rifle which was above Hinata, took aim and fired, but Naruto's other clone pushed her out of the way taking the hit disappearing.

"Tch, forgot about the other one." Xigbar muttered while Hinata was caught by Xion as Naruto blocked the shots aimed for them.

"Time to end it!" Xigbar warped and combined his rifles to fire a beam attack only the color was now pure black and as it reached midway, it scattered burst in all directions.

"What the-!" Everyone barely dodged the oncoming attack, but nothing major was hit other than a few scrapes however, even if they were small the cuts had the same pain as a regular slash mark.

"Ngh! Not yet, Heal!" Hinata casted a cure spell to heal everyone's wounds.

"Xion, Naruto, cover me! We'll take him down with this next attack!" Hinata shouted at her two friends.

"Huh? Okay you got it!"

"Right we got your back!"

Hinata brought her keyblade forward as energy started to slowly store itself in the blade.

"Oh no you don't!" Xigbar fired five shots at Hinata but were intercepted by Naruto.

"You're not getting anywhere near her!" Naruto summoned sixty clones forming a circle around Hinata while Xion joined in near the center as a last line defense.

"Oh, so Mr. Whiskers and Lil Poppet thinks they can protect pale eyes. Let's see how long you can hold out!" Xigbar began firing multiple shots while warping around making hundreds and thousands of bullets converging on Hinata's position from all directions.

* * *

><p>"Man, this guy really doesn't know when to quit!" Kiba said<p>

"Judging from his attack pattern, Xigbar is getting desperate." Kakashi said.

"How can you tell Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"With the way he's trying to get to Hinata is one way, also I noticed that his movements have started slowing down for awhile."

"But Sensei, I don't exactly see Xigbar slowing down at all." Sakura said.

"Don't worry Sakura, They will pull through like always." Kakashi reassured his student.

* * *

><p>"Brace yourselves everybody!" Naruto told his clones plus Xion as they were blocking the shots with full determination, not letting a single bullet pass them and not moving from their guarded position.<p>

When one clone would start to falter and show signs of weakness, they would just shake it off and continue blocking. And when they would lose one or both of their blades, they would cover their hands with red chakra and block the bullets with their hands on instinct alone.

But even with all of the determination in the world, sooner or later the clones would start disappearing one by one. After what seemed like hours to Naruto, two of his clones were still alive but the rest were gone, but both him and Xion were still standing.

"Both of you stand back!" Hinata shouted.

Her teammates nodded and jumped back as Hinata spun her keyblade forward and took aim and fired two spheres at Xigbar which hit him at high speed.

"Guh!" Xigbar didn't have time to think as he saw Hinata spin her keyblade twice and fired four spheres which hit him in both arms.

Hinata spun her weapon three times and fired eight spheres. Then four times to fire sixteen, then five for thirty-two, until she tossed her keyblade in the air and got behind Xigbar who didn't have time to react as she caught her keyblade and fired sixty-four spheres point blank into Xigbar which sent him towards Naruto who responded with a Odama Rasengan and sent Xigbar flying upwards to meet Xion and got Crossed Slashed to the ground where it left a crater.

"Gaaaaahhhh!" Xigbar was laying in a small crater in the center of the stage. One of his rifles were beyond repair, and his right arm was showing small static marks. Unknown to the group a green spot was glowing on his wrist and it left his body as it now showed itself as a light green sphere and turned into a lifeless grey color now.

"And stay down there." Xion muttered as she collapsed from everything that just happened.

Naruto and Hinata soon followed Xion and collapsed to their knees as they were exhausted. Hinata tried casting a cure spell to heal her friend's fatigue, but she lost the ability raise her keyblade to cast anything.

"Finally. . . It's over!" Naruto let out a sigh.

"Yeah there's no way he getting back up after that." Xion was starting to feel relaxed.

"Heh, GHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The trio was frozen in place as they recognized that voice.

"We're not done yet! NOT BY A LONG SHOT!" They saw Xigbar getting out of the crater but now had only one of his rifles in his left hand since his right arm was no longer part of his body and data was leaking out in streams.

"You really are stubborn Xigbar!" Xion got up but her muscles were dead to her as she forced herself to get into her stance just like her other teammates as their bodies were at their limit as well.

"How is it you are still able to fight!? You lost one of you're weapons, lost an arm, and on top of all that, you just got dealt the biggest insane attack we gave to you and you still manage to hold on! HOW!" Naruto demanded.

Xigbar was silent until he spoke. "Honestly. . . I just don't know. For some odd reason, I should be fading away after that attack. But it seems the data that keeps me intact refuses to give up." Xigbar answered as streams of data were no longer leaking out.

"Then we'll keep on beating you until there is no more data left to repair you!" Naruto said trying to take his stance but it took more strength than usual to get into position.

"Actually, I just realized throughout this whole thing, I never took off. . . my third set of kiddy gloves yet." The trio's faces were now paling.

"Oh come on! You have got to be joking! I'm barely running on chakra, and he still has another level to show us!" Naruto thought in his mind.

"Dammit why! Of all the times to lose the strength to cast a simple cure spell." Hinata muttered cursing herself for being in a weak position.

Xigbar pointed his rifle and took aim at the group. But what came next took everyone by surprise. He let go of his Rifle making it dematerialize as it fell to the ground.

"Nah I think I'll let Mr. Original do that part of the job." Xigbar fell to one knee smirking.

"W-What are you doing!?" Xion was confused to what Xigbar .

"What it looks like, I give up." Xigbar said shocking the group and the people outside.

"What are you playing at Xigbar!" Xion demanded.

"Well let's see, I lost my arm, I can only have one of my rifles in play, and I lost my healing gear in that attack, plus I was never implanted the third level. Also, I'm pretty sure you have some questions for me." Xigbar said.

"Well yeah I do, but I never thought I would see you give up." Xion said.

"There is something called first time for everything. So I might as well try and answer whatever before the data in me corrupts and I disintegrate." Xigbar said.

"Well I'll get straight to the point, what made you decide to go with Master Xehanort's plans?" Xion asked.

"Hmm, many years ago the old coot came to me and told me the power of the keyblade. And back then, I wanted to use one as well." Xigbar answered.

"You're greed is what made you join him!?" Naruto shouted.

"Bingo whiskers! After all, power can do many things for someone. I'm pretty sure you seen it's work in action right?" Xigbar said.

Naruto was reminded by his teammate, and looked down.

"Well then, why didn't you warp so much like you would always do?" Xion asked the next question.

"So you noticed, Mr. Original only implanted partial warping privileges for me but to compensate, he implanted the best hand to hand combat abilities in me to make up for it." Xigbar answered.

"And how was it that you managed to keep up with Hinata in that fight? You may have the combat skills, but keeping up with Hinata's new speed can't give you that." Naruto asked out of curiosity, now out of his short depression.

"That was just the use of good old keen hand-eye coordination. Something all shooters like me pickup combined with heightened senses I made throughout my career as a shooter." Xigbar said.

"Next question, how were you able to get up from the everything that happened to you? From Naruto's rasengan which blasted you from one end of the stage to another, to our trinity attack and you still managed get back up." Xion asked remembering that while Xigbar was strong, he was not that strong enough to get back up from fatal attacks in a blink of an eye let alone without a scratch.

"That was all thanks to the healing gear Mr. Original installed. I'm sure you are familiar with the usage of gears Xion?" Xigbar said.

"I thought you guys stopped using those!" Xion was shocked that the organization still had their hands on them.

"Umm, Xion what are gears?" Hinata asked.

"Back when I worked for the Organization, they made equipment that let us use different weapons and allowed us to use any kind of magic in the field even if it wasn't our primary element." Xion said remembering all kinds of gears that she, Roxas, Axel, and everyone else equipped on themselves when going on missions.

"Kinda sounds like the Organization's version of Materia usage." Hinata said.

"Well this next question might be a long shot, but what is Master Xehanort planning?" Xion asked.

"Sorry but I wasn't implanted with the permission or knowledge on what happens now. And even if I did, I still wouldn't say anything." Xigbar said.

"Well it was worth a try. I guest that settles my questions." Xion said.

"You satisfied?"

"For now. . . I'll save the rest of my questions for the real you."

"Well then, See ya. . ." Xigbar started fading slowly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to say one last thing to miss pale eyes." He turned his attention to Hinata.

"Huh?" Hinata wondered.

"You might be fooling the others and your friends, but that aura of despair will never be hidden from me and the others." Xigbar's sentence shocked her and her teammates.

"W-What?" Hinata stuttered.

"What are you talking about?" Xion wondered what he was saying to Hinata.

"As they say, the people bathed in the light the most, are the ones that give off the most darkness." Xigbar said not listening.

"Hey Xion gave you a question, so I suggest answering it!" Naruto shouted grabbing Xigbar by the cloak.

"Heh, and they say the ones who bark the loudest, will be consumed first!" Xigbar then let out an insane laugh.

"neh heh heh heh heh heh heh!" "neh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Xigbar faded away, with the laughing still lingering in the hall for a while until it was deadly silent.

* * *

><p>Back outside,<p>

"It's finally over. . ." Sakura sighed in relief.

"If that battle dragged out any longer, they would have been in trouble." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah and it's a good thing he decided not to use his next level." Kiba said.

"That's because he was not given one remember." Sai stated.

"Though I'm still shocked that he gave up." Sakura said.

"Yeah, that was the first time someone from the organization chose to give up." Ino said.

"He was fighting with his brain. Though it did look like he could have fought back." Shino said.

"Didn't he say that he would let the original Xigbar handle it?" Sai said.

Everyone was discussing with each other on the fight, not noticing that the screen was starting to show the same faint signs of distortion like it did with Naruto's fight with Xaldin.

"So any guesses on what we'll be shown next?" Tenten asked.

"Not sure, at this point we already saw enough of the past." Kiba said.

"Hmm. . . I got nothing."

"Me too."

"Same here."

"Maybe whatever were shown next, could at least help us deal with the coming darkness plaguing our world." Kakashi said.

"Yeah now that you mentioned it, after being here for a while, its starting to make me wonder how the leaf village is doing?" Sakura said.

"Yeah me too. I'm starting to miss the village as well." Ino said.

"I guess our stay here is starting to take it's toll on us." Kakashi said.

As everyone was still talking with each other, they were teleported to the next vision.

* * *

><p>Everyone was transported to an unknown world mysterious to them. They all turned to the trio who fought Xigbar.<p>

"Well done you three!"

"Yeah you really stood your ground in there!"

"Thanks you guys, though I'd say we should count ourselves lucky" Xion said.

"Yeah, if Braig's clone did have a third level or anything beyond that, then I don't think that match would have ended well for us." Hinata said.

"But anyway, where exactly are we this time?" Naruto wondered looking around until he spotted someone in red clothing.

"Hey guys, isn't that-"

"Wait, isn't this. . ." Sora muttered walking around.

"It's Sora but more taller!" Naruto said.

"Are we in the present instead of the past now?" Ino said.

"Could be, we did see enough of the past to get the gist of what could happen today." Shikamaru said.

"But exactly where is here?" Shino asked.

"The place where I'd never thought I'd see again." Everyone turned to Xion.

"You know where this is?" Kakashi said.

"Welcome to the Organization's home world, The World That Never Was." Xion said.

"Wait, this is the home of the Organization?" Kiba said looking around.

"That right." Xion said.

"Once again I'm being reminded how primitive our home is." Shikamaru said comparing the dark city to the village.

"Though regardless of technology differences, I would go with the village any day." Naruto said.

"Is the Organization's world sleeping too? No, it can't be. I know I definitely found the seven Keyholes already. So, I've gotta be awake again and in the real world. But why here?" he thought out loud.

"Aw, what's the matter, sleepyhead?" Sora's thought was interrupted by a someone.

"Huh? Where?" Everyone was looking everywhere for the source of the voice.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Sora shouted looking around.

"We jumped through a lot of hoops to get you here." The group hears the sound of something charging up. "But it looks as if it's gonna pay off."

Sora dodges the bolt as it struck the ground. He sees a man atop an adjacent skyscraper, who jumps down to street level. The man dematerializes his arrowguns by separating them, and smirks at Sora.

"Him again." Naruto growled.

"Braig, Xigbar's somebody." Xion said.

"Not much has changed for him." Hinata said comparing Braig to all of the other somebodies they saw previously.

"You're a part of this?" Sora said surprised, not expecting the man in front of him.

"Hey. Let's hit these plot points in order, Sora. . . Roxas." Braig said. "First, you must be wondering about your revised itinerary. "Why am I here, not back home?" The answer's simple. We brought you to this place! Hijacked your little slumber party before it started. And ever since, we've been both your companions and your constant guides." Braig explained.

"Wait what are they talking about?" Sakura asked as the group was confused but Xion and Hinata knew what Braig was talking about and paled a bit.

"Th-That's. . ." Hinata stuttered.

"Impossible!" Xion finished.

"Um. . . girls would you care to fill us in?" Kakashi asked.

"Sorry for the outburst, but if what Braig just said was true, then the moment me and Hinata saw Sora and Riku enter the sleeping realm, Sora was caught in their trap right in front of us and we didn't even know it!?" Xion explained.

"Wait you were there at the time?" Kiba asked.

"Well actually we were spying on them before we decided to make our presence known to Master Yen Sid." Hinata said.

"However, regardless of past mistakes I don't think anybody would suspect this kind of tactic. Though what did he mean when he said before it started?" Shino said.

"Before it started?" Sora wondered until he realized the answer. "The man in the robe! And so that guy in the black coat, and Xemnas. . ." Sora said remembering all the times he saw the organization.

"I guess that answers that question Shino." Tenten said as Shino didn't reply.

"Bingo. You were able to go back in time to just before your home became a Sleeping World, only because a past version of you already existed there." Braig said walking up to Sora as said person backed away. "And I can see, in the past, you already met Mr. Robe Guy. Yup, he was there then to make sure you ended up here now." Braig said.

"That's ridiculous!" Sora shouted.

"It sure is. It's too perfect. Who'd ever believe it? Which is why you idiots never saw it coming. You thought you were off doing some kind of test, right? Well, test this, how come you're wearing the same clothes if you're already back home? You are not gonna wake up, okay? Look there's no real versus dreams anymore. There's just you, us, and this."

"I see. . . Fair enough." Sora said as he summoned his keyblade. "So what? At least I know who to blame for it!" Sora was glaring at Braig now ready to fight him.

"Yeah you can take him Sora!" Naruto said.

"Ooh, I see you've still got that angry look down. But, here is where I tag out. I got just a few more hoops I gotta jump through." Braig teleports away, and He reappears upside down in the air above Sora, laughing as he shoots the ground around him with thirteen bolts. In each bolt's place, a cloaked figure appears.

"What the!? How many members of the organization are still around!?" Naruto shouted.

In front of Sora stood a young man with silver hair.

"Come with me." He said extending his hand.

"There's no way Sora's going anywhere with you!" Naruto shouted.

Everyone then saw Sora starting to wobble a bit. "Hey what's going on!?" Sakura said.

"What?" Sora was losing his focus as he looked to see Braig just standing in the background.

"Pleasant dreams, kiddo." Braig said as the group saw Sora collapsed on the ground.

* * *

><p>Everyone then saw the vision change to Sora's home Destiny Islands.<p>

"Were back here again?" Naruto said looking at the ocean but see two figures talking to each other.

"Who are they? I mean I know who one of them are, but the guy in the brown robe is unknown." Kiba said.

"Yes. This was where it started." Everyone turned to see Sora sitting next to the young man next to him. "At this point, I still had no idea that I was talking to myself. He cast away his bodily form just to set me on the appointed path." Sora was looking at the figure in the brown robe talking with the youth.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"That is Xehanort reduced to just a heart-the being you and your friends called 'Ansem.'" He said.

"Wait that guy in the robe over-" Kiba looked to where the two guys were at but were no longer there.

"Huh where'd he go!?" Sakura shouted.

"Whoa!" Everyone turned to see the robed man in front of Sora.

"What the-!? How did he get near Sora without us seeing him!?" Naruto shouted.

Sora was caught off guard before blacking out again.

* * *

><p>The vision then changed to a nighttime version of Destiny Islands.<p>

"Now what's going on?" Naruto asked looking around.

the group saw the robed version of Ansem walking into a cave connecting to the center of the Island.

"Wait where's he going?" Choji asked.

"Him!" Sora said.

Everyone then saw another Sora running into the cave.

"What the!? Another Sora!?" Ino said.

"Is that. . ." Sora paused.

"Yes. The point in time that Xigbar mentioned." The youth said next to Sora.

"Me, right before my world was swallowed by the darkness." Sora said.

"Wait, Sora's also a victim of losing his home to the darkness as well?" Naruto asked.

"Yes but he managed to restore his home back to the way it was." Xion said.

"Well can the same be done for Terra Ven and Aqua's world?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe, but I think we need Aqua for that." Xion said.

"Why is that?" Kiba asked.

"She was the one who made that place remember? So if she made it she should be able to reverse the effect." Shikamaru explained.

"Plus if I remember right, she had master Eraqus's Keyblade on her when she was the realm of darkness. That blade is also needed as well." Kakashi added.

"To move through time, you must leave your body behind. Ansem first sent me on my way, and then placed himself here when the time was right. That was what set all these events in motion." The youth said.

"What are you saying? That he knew everything that would happen?" Sora asked.

"No, not everything. But remember, Ansem possessed Riku and saw his experiences in real time." He said.

"So? That could only tell him so much. How did he know I would be here today?" Sora asked.

"Simple." After the youth said that, a loud boom was heard and the group saw a girl with red hair flying towards Sora.

"Huh!?" Everyone was caught off guard.

"Kairi!" Sora tried to catch her, but she disappears and Sora starts to black out again.

* * *

><p>The group sees the vision change again to a world unfamiliar to them.<p>

"Where are we now?" Naruto asked not recognizing the layout.

"Welcome to Traverse Town the refugee world." Xion said.

"Refugee world?" Kakashi wondered.

"If a world is lost to the darkness, people maybe lucky enough to be sent to traverse town instead of being devoured by the darkness." Xion explained while gaining nods from the group.

"Right but anyway who exactly was that girl who came flying out of the cave?" Ino asked.

"That and didn't she look kinda like you Xion?" Sakura added.

"That was Kairi, she is one of Sora's childhood friends and was once a victim of losing her heart but Sora managed to get it back, and as to why she looks like me is because since my purpose in the organization was to hold Sora's memories, my looks were based on Sora's most strongest and precious memories." Xion explained. getting nods from the others.

"So in other words you look like Kairi because Sora likes her." Sai bluntly stated.

"Yeah if you put it that way." Xion said as a blush slightly appeared on her cheeks.

"What is. . ." Everyone saw Sora floating down and by Sora they meant a whole lot of him.

"Whoa!? What's going on!?" Sakura said trying to count the many Soras falling from the sky as well as the ones on the ground doing random things.

"You've been here many times." Everyone saw the youth talking next to the real Sora. "Your first journey. . . your voyage through memories. . . in the datascape. . . in your dreams. Relived again and again. . .like déjà vu." He said as the group saw King Mickey going through the door leading to the third district.

Where is King Mickey going off to?" Ino wondered.

"King Mickey?" Sora wondered as he reached out his hand as Goofy and Donald pass through him.

"So who exactly are those two, I mean we did see them at the tower back when Aqua and Ven were there." Naruto asked.

"They are the King's friends and Sora's constant traveling partners to different worlds Donald Duck and Goofy." Xion said.

Donald turns to Goofy, who points to the sky. Everyone followed where he was pointing to see a star blink out.

"Is that what happens when a world gets consumed by darkness looks like from the outside?" Sakura asked.

"Unfortunately yes. . ." Xion said.

"Makes you wonder how many worlds got consumed by the darkness." Shino said.

"And how long we were oblivious to it." Choji added.

They then saw Goofy, Donald, and Pluto walking up the stairs.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora tried catching up to them only for Pluto to go to the third district.

"Pluto!" Sora goes after Pluto to the door.

"Sora!" Everyone heard a faint voice calling Sora's name.

"Did you guys hear that?" Naruto asked.

Everyone then saw Sora collapsing again and the vision changes back to the World That Never Was.

* * *

><p>"Are we back in the organization's world?" Xion asked only to notice a lack of people around her save for Hinata.<p>

"Uh guys? Guys!" Xion said looking around but found none of the others.

"Xion where did the others go!?" Hinata asked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out!?" Xion said.

"Huh? Am I back?" Both keyblade wielders attentions were now focused on Sora who was now wearing black clothes instead of red. they then notice Mickey, Donald and Goofy go through the Alleyway into the city.

"Wait Your Majesty! Donald! Goofy!" Sora ran after them turning around the corner.

"Hey wait Sora!" Xion and Hinata went after him.

As they turned the corner they Saw Sora confronting a blonde haired girl in a white dress.

"Naminé?" Xion muttered.

"Who is that Xion?" Hinata asked.

"Naminé Kairi's nobody." Xion said not taking her eyes off her.

"I've got a message for you. I meant to tell you once this was all over." Sora said with Naminé not looking at him.

However, when Naminé turned to face Sora, her appearance changed to a face both keyblade wielders knew all too well.

"H-Huh!?" was all Xion could say as words were trying to get out.

"Xion what's going on!? Why are you there!?" Hinata wondered as her mind was racing.

"Th-This was when I took a small nap hours ago!? Hinata you do remember how long ago this was right!?" Xion mind was panicking seeing that she was involved in the vision.

"Huh? Who are. . .you?" Sora wondered as the Xion in the vision looked away.

Sora felt a tear roll down his cheek. "Wh-Why am I. . ." he touched it surprising him, which was enough for Xion to pull away from him and pull up her hood.

"Hey, wait!" Sora shouted as she ran away from him and disappeared.

"And that was when I woke up." Xion told Hinata who nodded.

"You gotta wake up. . ." both wielders heard a faint voice again.

"There's that voice again." Hinata was looking around trying to find the source.

* * *

><p>The vision then changed to another part of the dark city with Sora confronting another person in a black cloak who was standing in the middle of a large crevasse.<p>

"There you guys are." both wielders turned around to see Naruto and the others.

"Hey you guys where'd you go?" Xion asked as Naruto hugged his girlfriend.

"Us? That's what we should be asking you girls." Kiba said with one eyebrow raised.

"Huh?"

"You two girls just went and vanished on us, while we saw Sora confronting a person in organization clothing but disappeared before he could catch up to him." Shino explained gaining confused looks from the two girls.

"But Shino we-" Xion grabbed Hinata and yanked her away from the others.

"Xion what are you doing?" Hinata asked.

"Hinata I would rather you keep what we saw a secret for the time being." Xion whispered.

"But Xion-"

"I really don't want more people finding out what we saw because if they did, they might jump to conclusions and think I might have had an involvement with Sora's trap." Xion muttered.

"No they-"

"Look even with my defection and leaving, I'm still former Organization XIII. That in itself can still give anyone enough evidence to accuse me." Xion whispered.

"O-Ok I won't." Hinata reluctantly nodded as they went back to the others.

"You girls ok?" Kakashi asked.

"Uh Yeah we're fine. Right Hinata?" Xion lied turning to her keyblade partner.

"Y-Yeah we're ok." Hinata lied as well.

"Hmm. . . if you say so." Kakashi really wasn't convinced but decided to let it go.

"C'mon, wait up. Who are you?" Sora said.

The figure took off his hood, revealing his blond hair. He then turns to face Sora.

"You're. . . Roxas. How can you be here? Am I dreaming?" Sora asked as Roxas shook his head staying quiet.

"Hey Xion?" Sakura asked.

"Yes?"

"Roxas is suppose to be Sora's nobody right?" Xion nodded. "Then why exactly does he look like Ventus instead of Sora?"

"Well. . ." Xion didn't know what to say.

"Hmm. . . this is just my theory, but maybe Ventus' presence in Sora's heart affected how Roxas would look like. Though that's just my idea." Shino theorized.

"You know Shino, I think your theory might not be that far from the truth." Xion said.

"C'mon, say something." Sora said.

"This could have been the other way around." Roxas said finally breaking his silence.

"Huh?"

"But it really has to be you."

"What do you mean?"

"There are so many hearts that are connected to yours. You're me, so you can feel what I felt." Roxas answered.

"No. Roxas, you're you. We're not the same. I wanted to tell you that. That you deserve as much as I do to be your own person." Sora's answer shocked Roxas who was caught off guard but then smiled.

"Sora, see? That's why it has to be you." Roxas then grabs Sora's hands and he is overcoming with emotions unable to move as Roxas vanishes from his spot.

"Wait, what did Roxas just do!?" Kiba asked.

Ino looked at Sora closely "It kinda reminds me of something my dad showed me." everyone's attention was focused on her.

"Hmm?"

"My father showed me a technique that should be used in case I get captured by the enemy, the process was wiping away my memory of any vital intel and all of it goes to a primary target of my choosing, That way the people would have no way of getting any information from me." Ino explained.

"So what your Dad showed you, could be something that's happening to Sora right now?" Xion asked.

"In Sora's case, Roxas must have given him every memory he had, how I know the signs is because when my Dad showed me all of his memories, I started showing the same symptoms that Sora is starting to show. I mean no matter how strong someone's mind is, having a person's whole memory shoved into you right away can have some side effects." Ino said.

"Not again. Did they cause all this pain?" Sora was arranging all of Roxas' memories in his head.

He clenches his fist and yells "What do you want me to see!?"

"Sorry, but I don't think any of us can help with that." Naruto muttered as some of the members were thinking the same thing.

"Sora, don't chase the dreams. They'll lead you nowhere, just to an abyss you'll never be able to wake up from." The group once again hears a faint voice.

"Okay, who is that!?" Naruto shouted looking desperately for the source of the voice.

"You know for a while now, I have this nagging feeling that I heard that voice from somewhere before." Xion said.

"Really?"

* * *

><p>The vision for the group changed yet again to where Sora finds two people, a boy with Silver hair and a girl wearing a pink outfit.<p>

"So who does Sora see now?" Naruto asked.

"The two people who are his precious childhoods friends, and the ones that stuck together with him the most on the Islands Riku and Kairi." Xion said.

"Whoa that's Riku!? He changed a lot!?" Sakura said comparing Riku's child form to his present look, a blush appearing on hers and Ino's face.

"Riku, Kairi, I found you!" Sora was catching his breath.

The two people turned to face him but as they turned around, their forms started to change.

"Huh?" Sora was now looking at two people unfamiliar to him, a tall brown-haired man and a blue-haired woman were staring back at him.

"Terra and Aqua!?" some of the members shouted.

"Who. . ." Sora was confused as he was staring at the two people.

"Ven." Sora's form changed to a blonde boy but he didn't noticed the change as he was still focused on the pair.

"And the three friends are reunited. . . but. . ." Kakashi muttered.

"Just not in person." Shino finished.

"Huh?" Sora was still in a state of confusion.

both extend their hands to him. Sora nearly reaches out, but their forms begin to waver as the two walk away from him, fading back into Riku and Kairi.

Sora, who was now himself again started running after them, but no matter how much might he puts into every step, it seems if he's running in slow motion.

"What is going on?" Sora thought out loud.

"That what we want to know."

He struggled to reach his friends and once again the group hears the faint voice calling out to Sora.

"Sora! Don't! You've gotta wake up! Sora!"

The voice distracts him and he takes another look back at Terra and Aqua, who fade away and the world dissolves into Memory's Skyscraper. Sora continued to keep running with every step he took looking heavier than the last.

"Wait!" he cried as he tried reaching out his hand, and a bright light appears engulfing everything.

* * *

><p>The scene changes to the Destiny Islands at sunset, where a young Sora and Riku are running along the beach until they stop and saw Aqua above them on the bridge.<p>

"Didn't we already see this way long ago?" Naruto asked.

"I guess this is Sora remembering that time." Kakashi guessed.

"I don't think so, more like the vision is trying to remind him of the event." Xion said.

They stop, seeing Aqua above them on the bridge. She jumps down and speaks with them, smiling. The world started shifting and Sora sees Ansem.

"Okay, I know he's not part of that picture!" Xion said.

"What. . ." Ansem starts to turn around and Sora is blown backwards.

* * *

><p>The vision now changes to a place in The World That Never Was.<p>

"Where exactly are we this time?" Naruto wondered looking around.

They looked around themselves until they spotted Braig standing on a building on it's side floating in mid air looking up.

"Hey guys look!" Sakura pointed to where Braig was staring and saw an orb of light falling towards Braig and crashed right in front of him.

"What was that!?" Naruto shouted.

"Oopsy-daisy. Wasn't easy putting you into a second sleep, and he almost woke you up." Braig said as the dust settled and showed Sora on the ground, on one knee, touching the ground trying to catch his breath.

"So then, all that stuff I just saw. . .did you put that in my head?" Sora asked.

"No." Braig answered. "That wasn't "stuff," it was a dream. The falling asleep part was definitely our bad. But we can't put stuff in your head. Hey, I got an idea. Ask your heart. See if it's got a clue." Braig said.

"Well. . . my heart was aching. That's why I kept going." Sora said.

"Oh. . . Thank you, Sora's heart, for pushing him right into our clutches. Aren't hearts great? Steer us wrong every time." Braig said.

"No they don't, I always follow my heart and not once has it steered me wrong!" Naruto said.

"You know, right, because you all have hearts! Axel and Roxas and Naminé, and that other girl. I felt what Roxas felt and. . .they laughed together, got mad, and they grieved. You have to have a heart to cry." Sora said.

"It's about time you noticed." Braig said.

"Indeed." The group saw Xemnas appear behind them.

"Lord Xemnas. . ." Xion muttered.

"That's the final opponent for us right?" Naruto asked.

"A heart is never lost for good. There may have been variances in our dispositions, but a number of us unquestionably showed signs of a burgeoning replacement. Once born, the heart can also be nurtured. Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind, and convince it to renounce its sense of self. But understand, one can banish the heart from the body, but the body will try to replace it the first chance it gets, for as many times as it takes. And so I knew, even after we were divided into Heartless and Nobodies, it was just a temporary separation." Xemnas explained.

"Wait then that means. . ." Xion was putting two and two together until she figured out that her former boss was lying not only to her, but to everyone she knew in the Organization about them not having hearts when they had one the whole time, then the question as to why he lied in the first place rose up in her head.

"Why, then? Why did you lie to them and tell them they had no hearts!?" Sora yelled.

"Xemnas and Xehanort formed the Organization for a specific reason-round up a bunch of empty husks, hook them up to Kingdom Hearts, then fill them all with the exact same heart and mind." Braig said.

"H-Hold on, 'exact heart and mind.' does he mean-"

"Translation, they were gonna turn all the members into Xehanort." Braig clarified.

That sentence shocked everyone especially Xion.

"Th-That can be. . ." Xion was at a loss for words, paling as she and Roxas were almost in line for being turned into Xehanort if they didn't leave when they did.

"You mean to tell me he lied to his allies that trusted him, to turn them into the same person!?" Naruto shouted.

"Make more Xehanorts? You tricked your friends to. . . But you. . .aren't you scared of just turning into someone else?" Sora asked.

"Me? I'm already half Xehanort." Braig said showing his yellow eye to symbolize his answer.

"That's nuts. . ." Sora said.

"However. . .through weakness of body. . . weakness of will. . . or weakness of trust-most of the original members we had chosen for the Organization were inadequate. Thus, naturally, they never had a chance to attain their goal." Xemnas said.

"So then what exactly were we to you!?" Xion yelled even knowing that she wouldn't get a response from a vision.

"Yet, even this was to be expected."

Sora was scowling along with everyone else in the group.

"We have learned of the heart's folly, and we have achieved our other goals. This last excursion has proven to be a worthy closing assignment for the Organization." Xemnas finished.

"Just stop it! You treat people's hearts like bottles on a shelf, but they're not!" Sora said summoning his keyblade.

"Hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them- they're what ties us together even when we're apart! They're what. . . make me strong."

"Yeah you tell him Sora!" Naruto cheered.

"Duh! You're strong because of the ties you have with other people. As if the Keyblade would choose a wimp like you." Braig said making Sora turn to him.

"Wait what? Did I hear that right?" Ino said

"Sora wasn't originally chosen to use the keyblade?" Hinata asked while some of the group members had similar thoughts.

"But no pouting. We see much bigger and better things in your future. . . once you side with us." Braig extended his hand to Sora.

"Sora knows better than to join the likes of you!" Naruto shouted.

Sora looked at his keyblade and sighed. "I know the Keyblade didn't choose me, and I don't care. I'm proud to be a small part of something bigger. . .the people it did choose." Sora said shocking Braig.

"My friends. They are my power!" Sora statement caught Braig off guard.

"Wait, shouldn't Ven's heart give him the ability to use a keyblade?" Ino asked still thinking as to why Sora was not suppose to be a keyblade wielder.

"Maybe it doesn't exactly work like that." Kakashi said.

"But even so, Sora's proved to others that he has what it takes to wield one." Xion said.

"Yeah! I don't care if there are rules or not, he earned the right to wield one!" Naruto said.

"Those are just words. You've lost." Braig was getting nervous as he was struggling to get his thoughts together. "Fine. See where your power gets you here. Xemnas! He's all yours." Braig said as he took his leave.

As he left. Xemnas raised his arms and the pieces of the buildings behind Sora rise into the air, causing debris to fall into the chasm below.

"How strong is this guy!?" Kiba shouted looking at the buildings Xemnas was holding with his power.

Sora readies his Keyblade and summoned two creatures, one was a colorful elephant while the other one was a red giant vicious T-Rex, and stood firm against his opponent.

"Whoa! What are they!?" Naruto said looking at the two creatures.

"Those are what you call dream eaters." Xion said examining them.

"And would you explain to us what they are?" Kakashi asked looking at the two creatures.

"Unlike their three counterparts of darkness, dream eaters come in two categories. However, while the heartless are also divided into two categories, dream eaters actually have a side where they fight the darkness. One is spirits which give people good dreams and fight nightmares, and the other is nightmares which as it's name suggests, implant nightmares and consume dreams. Plus, these creatures can only be found in the sleeping realm." Xion explained.

"So what Sora summoned are these Spirits right?" Sakura asked.

"That's correct." Xion answered looking at the fight about to begin.

"As your flesh bears the sigil, so your name shall be known as that. . . of a recusant." Xemnas said.

Sora and his spirits charged at Xemnas and suddenly a bright flash blinded the group.

"Wait, what's going on!?" Ino shouted shielding her eyes.

"I don't know!" Xion answered.

What they saw as the light died down, was Sora dealing the decisive blow to Xemnas making him teleport away.

"Wait, THAT'S IT!?" Naruto shouted.

"THAT CAN'T BE THE WHOLE FIGHT!" Kiba shouted.

"I demand a replay!"

"Yeah!"

"There must be something interfering with the vision." Kakashi thought as his mind was remembering the static from the beginning and Xion's unusual behavior.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted, as they saw Sora fall backwards breathing heavily with darkness coming out of his body.

"Hey, what's up with Sora?" Ino asked.

Suddenly a corridor of darkness appeared and the silvered haired young man stepped out of it.

"You. . . again." Sora felt weak.

"You just make it too easy. I know you think you've won, but you lost the moment you dived this far in. You're in the deepest pit of slumber, and you've worn yourself down to nothing. There's no returning to the world above."

"What do you mean?"

"We told you. It was not the Sleeping Keyholes that guided you. They are not the reason you are here. You've been on a path, one we laid out for you. That sigil on your chest is the proof." the group followed his finger which pointed to the straps on Sora's outfit.

"Huh? But how can an X guide someone?" Naruto asked.

"I think he's about to tell us." Kakashi responded.

"What?" Sora wondered looking down on it.

"See? That sigil, the X, it tells us where you are at all times." he said making an X in the air.

"You had wondered aloud before, why we kept showing up where you were. It's because we need you, Sora."

"Well he's better off without you!" Kiba said.

"Or, to be more precise, we need what will be left of you, the thirteenth dark vessel."

"What!? NO! You can't take him!" Naruto took a swung at him only to strike air. "Damn it!" He punched the ground.

"Try to stay calm Naruto." Kakashi walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"First Terra, and now he has his sights set on Sora now. And we're forced to just watch and do nothing." Naruto muttered with red eyes still blazing.

"Don't lose faith yet. We'll think of something after this." Kakashi reassured.

"Yeah. . ." Naruto got back up now with blue eyes and stood next to Hinata.

"Why. . . I. . ." Sora muttered.

"Why was it assured you could come here today? Because I followed my destined path, and I'm here looking at you right now. You can move through time, but time itself is immovable." He said as Sora started wiping his eyes. "Today, all of my selves throughout time were meant to gather here, and to welcome you, Sora, as our thirteenth member." The youth known as Xehanort said now kneeling beside Sora.

"Wait, 'all of him?' then this guy-!?" Sakura said.

"He's Master Xehanort in his youth!?" Xion finished.

"Time really does wonders for people! He has hair!" Ino said getting a few chuckles from the others.

"These facts cannot be changed." He said as a dark tendril crept along Sora's arm.

"What's. . . gonna happen. . ."

"I have now told you all that I know. We are all here, and what the future holds in store is beyond my sight. I will return to my own time, and grow into the man who becomes all these others." Xehanort said as the darkness started covering Sora. "While I know this future now that I have lived it, returning to my own time will erase the memories and experiences I have gained here. Still, my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world."

"Riku. . ." Sora muttered.

"Your heart will sleep forever in the folds of darkness. And your body will be another vessel for me."

"Don't count on it buddy, We're going to stop that part of your future plan!" Naruto said.

"So light gives way to darkness. Good night, Sora." Sora eyes were closed by young Xehanort as he faded into the darkness.

Everyone was silent as they saw Sora disappear into the darkness.

"Wait shouldn't the vision be over by now." Xion wondered why they were still in the vision.

"Now that that's out of the way. . . it's time to finally deal with the rats." Xehanort stood up.

"Huh?" Naruto wondered.

Xehanort snapped his fingers and the group was paralyzed to the ground not being able to move.

"Wha-What is this!?" Xion said struggling.

"I was wondering who exactly was eavesdropping on my future's past. And not only do I find out the culprit, but I see that the insurance is with you as well." Xehanort said looking down at all of the members of the group.

"H-How are you doing this!?" Sakura said trying to force herself up, but was sent back down.

"This may only be a vision to you. But what makes it different is that this time you in the present. And that is enough for me to interact with all of you."

"So what we saw just now was real time!?" Hinata said struggling against the paralysis.

"You are correct." He moves towards Tenten. "Also, I do believe you have something that belongs to my counterpart." he reaches and yanks the scroll containing all the organizations weapons away from her, then forced the weapons to appear out of the scroll.

"Hey those are ours!" Tenten shouted trying to grab one of the weapons, only for them to be out of reach.

"Who said they belong to you? As I recall these weapons belonged to the Organization. However, seeing as though you won them from their owners, You'll get them back soon enough as well as these." He summons Xigbar's arrowguns and they started floating with the other weapons then they disappeared into a portal. He turned towards Xion "You can keep the keychain, we already have enough data on Roxas to copy his keyblades."

"You'll pay for this!" Naruto said struggling to get up.

"As much as I want to see you try and ultimately fail against your futile struggle, I do believe you have an appointment with my counterpart's clone back at your destination."

"The moment we beat him, you're next!"

"So confident you can win so quick, when you do win the battle, it will already be far too late. I'll have my 13th vessel and you will lose your last hope. All you can do now is win against a mere shadow of me and wallow in despair knowing that you will fail at stopping my future." Young Xehanort said as he started walking away.

"Hey get back here! We're not done yet!" Naruto tried reaching out.

"I believe we already are." As soon as the last words came out of his mouth the group vanished.

* * *

><p>The group was now back at the garden only they were still on the ground but everyone slowly got up.<p>

"DAMN IT ALL!" Naruto growled punching the ground.

Everyone had recovered from their bindings, but they all thought one thing.

They suffered a total defeat at their enemy. Not only did Xehanort ambush them, he did it in a way that made them vulnerable and to make matters worse, he took away all of the weapons they won from the other members.

Most of them were seething at what Xehanort just pulled out from under them while some of them had to give him credit for thinking of such a cunning tactic.

"Everyone let's just calm down for a minute." Kakashi said feeling the tension.

"CALM DOWN!? CALM DOWN!? THAT BASTARD PULL ONE RIGHT OVER US AND WE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Naruto was giving off large amounts of chakra with red mixing with blue as one of his eyes were demonic red.

"I know we're frustrated, but now is not the time for rash behavior." Kakashi said trying to calm Naruto down.

"HE HAD US ON OUR KNEES, AND LOOKED DOWN ON US LIKE WEAKLINGS!" More red chakra was escaping.

"Naruto please calm down!" Sakura said but Naruto was still letting out huge amounts of chakra.

Hinata suddenly enveloped Naruto in a hug. "Please don't be angry Naruto. At least we're all okay." She calmly said ignoring the chakra backlash.

"H-Hinata. . ." Naruto's chakra output was starting to die down.

"Yeah. . . like Hinata said we're all okay, that's what matters the most." Sakura said.

"Right. . ." Naruto muttered patting the top of Hinata's head who smiled as the chakra leak came to a stop.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt this moment, but you might want to take a look around you." Ino said.

"Huh." they got their bearings and noticed that the room got alot darker, and some strange miasma was leaking through the large cracks now showing on the floor.

"What's going on!?" Sakura said looking around the damaged room.

"We don't know exactly, but when we got back all of this just appeared."

"Someone really did a number on this place." Naruto said.

"Also, some of us thought it be best to go outside, however when we went for the exit, there was none."

"What!?" Hinata and Naruto turned to where the exit was suppose to be, only for them to see a lack of a door and just a plain solid wall.

"We also asked Xion if she can open a portal to the outside, but that ended in failure as well." Ino said.

"It's true as well as Choji trying to water walk on the waterfalls to see if we could get outside, though the invisible roof cut him off. I'm pretty sure that was always there." Xion added.

"Wait, so that means-"

"We're trapped in this place!?" Naruto finished.

"Pretty much, I guess Master Xehanort must have thought of this in case we tried to stop his plan." Xion said.

Everyone was silent taking in the information given to them. With no way out, they couldn't stop the dark keyblade master from achieving his goal.

* * *

><p><span><strong>JG's AN:**** . . .Too long. . .completely and utterly to long. . .I completely and utterly apologize for not getting this chapter out sooner. . .but now that's it's finally out, what do you think? I really have to thank NitroXwing on DA for helping me out with most of the stuff here. . .he was really good with it. Anyway, if anyone still reads this, I hope you like it, the battle with Xemnas is coming and it's going to be crazy! Later everyone!**


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